The Second Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) formed a majority, this Friday (13), to endorse Minister André Mendonça’s decision and maintain the arrest of Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master.
In addition to André Mendonça, rapporteur of the case at the Supreme Court, ministers Luiz Fux and Kássio Nunes Marques voted in favor of maintaining the banker’s arrest. Gilmar Mendes’ vote is still missing.
Minister Dias Toffoli, who belongs to the Second Panel, declared himself a suspect and did not participate in the trial, which will have four votes.
Vorcaro Prison
On the 4th of this month, Vorcaro was arrested again and was the target of the third phase of Operation Compliance Zero, by the Federal Police (PF), which investigates financial fraud at Master and the attempted purchase of the institution by Banco Regional de Brasília (BRB), a public institution linked to the government of the Federal District (GDF).
Mendonça responded to the arrest request made by the PF, after new data from the investigation showed that Vorcaro gave direct orders to the other defendants to intimidate journalistsformer employees and businesspeople, in addition to having prior access to the content of the investigations.
The investigation cited messages found on the banker’s cell phone, which was seized by the PF, in which he threatened Lauro Jardim, a journalist for the newspaper O Globo, in conversation with Luiz Phillipi Mourão, known as Sicário.
Mourão was also arrested in the third phase of the operation and attempted to kill himself in the PF prison in Belo Horizonte.
The investigation also revealed that Vorcaro had direct contact with two Central Bank employees and was informed about the progress of investigations against the Master at the agency.
On November 17 last year, the banker was arrested for the first time, when he tried to board a private jet to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The following day, the Central Bank ordered Master’s liquidation due to suspected fraud.
After the arrest, the defense got a you have a body in the Federal Court in Brasília, and Vorcaro began serving house arrest, under monitoring by an electronic ankle bracelet.
