Banking scandal erupted after the November 17, 2025 detention of Daniel Vorcaro at São Paulo’s Guarulhos airport and the subsequent liquidation of Banco Master. Brazil’s central bank placed the lender into liquidation with reported losses of R$47.3 billion (about US$9.5 billion), and the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC) covered roughly 90% of reimbursements to depositors. The developments have intensified scrutiny of governance in Brazil as criminal charges including bank fraud, corruption and money laundering remain pending against Vorcaro.
Investigators describe a wide-reaching influence network said to have sheltered the bank’s operations from oversight. Prosecutors allege that the network included economists, media figures, public officials, politicians and members of the judiciary who either vouched for the bank, received payments, or were pressured. Banco Master had contracts since 2018 to manage state and municipal retirement accounts and to provide services to other banking institutions, links that amplified the scandal’s financial and political reach.
The probe has produced specific allegations across the political spectrum. Authorities trace funds to figures on the right, including payments connected to a film associated with Flávio Bolsonaro, and report transfers totaling about US$12.3 million to the Texas fund that managed the project, with US$1.6 million sent in September 2025. Leaks and bank records cited by investigators point to contacts with Congressman Nikolas Ferreira and to payments or benefits tied to established figures on the left, such as claims about an apartment and R$3.5 million linked to Senator Jaques Wagner. Judicial links include the stepping aside of Supreme Court Justice Toffoli amid revelations of R$35 million tied to a resort in which he had an interest, a consultancy payment to the son of Justice Kássio Nunes Marques, and a R$131 million contract involving the law firm of Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The investigation was later overseen by Justice André Mendonça, who had served in the previous administration.
With national elections approaching, the case has migrated from financial pages to the centre of the campaign. Political actors have seized on elements of the files: calls for resignations and demands for transparency have intensified, and President Lula da Silva moved to have files unsealed even as he sought to avoid broad institutional turmoil. The unfolding inquiries underscore tensions among Congress, the executive and the Supreme Court, and have become a defining issue for candidates and voters in the run-up to October’s vote.
