On Tuesday, the Federal Police (PF) will collect statements from the owner of Banco Master, Daniel Vorcaro, the former president of Banco de Brasília (BRB) Paulo Henrique Costa and the director of the Central Bank Inspection, Ailton de Aquino Santos. After the auditions, the responsible delegate will decide whether the three should compete against each other.
Initially, the confrontation was determined by Minister Dias Toffoli, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), who took over the investigation into possible fraud involving the Master.
The measure was determined ex officio by the magistrate, that is to say without request from the parties or the investigative bodies.
This Monday, however, after criticism of the progress of the procedure, the STF announced that the PF would decide whether or not it was appropriate to compare the versions.
The statements will be monitored by an assistant judge in Toffoli’s office. Those involved can participate by videoconference.
Last week, the minister rejected a request from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) to call off the confrontation.
On Saturday, Toffoli said Ailton de Aquino Santos was not under investigation in the matter, responding to a request for clarification from the Central Bank. Despite this, the minister stressed that the investigation “is linked to the actions of the national regulatory authority.”
The three will be heard because Vorcaro tried to sell Master to BRB Bank, a state bank owned by the Federal District (DF) government, in a deal that BC vetoed in September. Two months later, Vorcaro was arrested and the BC decreed the liquidation of Master amid suspicions of fraudulent operations worth around 12 billion reais.
The investigation began at the Federal Court of Brasilia, but was transferred to the STF on Toffoli’s orders, after the PF found a document that cited a real estate negotiation between Vorcaro and a federal deputy.
The director resisted liquidation
As shown by the editorialist Malu Gaspar, the liquidation was decided with the unanimous approval of the collegial council of the BC, including the yes of the president, Gabriel Galípolo, who in principle did not need to express himself, since the other eight administrators were in favor.
However, of the entire board, the one who most resisted the idea of liquidation was Ailton Aquino himself, of the inspection service. Internally at the BC and in the financial system, Aquino was considered an ally of the Master.
Records from the Credit Guarantee Fund (CGF), backed by resources from the banks themselves, show there have been 38 formal communications about liquidity risks, holes in Master’s balance sheet and other issues that should lead to stronger action from the regulator.
Almost all alerts were directed at the Aquino region, and many were issued during face-to-face meetings. Two people who attended these meetings told me that the manager’s attitude was always to downplay the problems – which only got worse over time.
The discussion around a more drastic attitude towards Master, such as intervening or liquidating, only began to take shape from March 2025, when BRB announced that it would buy 58% of the bank from Daniel Volrcaro but leave him the management of the institution. In practice, this was a simple rescue, as the sale would not guarantee control of the BRB.
It was in the process of analyzing this operation that another department, the Financial System Organization and Resolution, discovered fraud in the salary credit contracts which guaranteed the transfer of 12.2 billion BRL from BRB to Master via the sale of the portfolio, even before the merger of the two banks.
From then on, an internal split occurred, with Renato Gomes’ zone proposing to intervene in Master’s zone and Aquino’s zone to try to find a solution that would allow the bank to continue operating. Therefore, the BC member who knows the fraud and its mechanism best is not Aquino, but Gomes, who has already completed his term.
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