The Minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) Dias Toffoli rejected a request from the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, to suspend for an indefinite period the dispute concerning the attempted sale of Banco Master. The magistrate made the decision on Wednesday evening (24), now the hearing.
Toffoli had called the confrontation to confront the versions of Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Master, Ailton de Aquino, director of the Central Bank Inspection, and Paulo Henrique Costa, former president of the BRB (Bank of Brasilia). The hearing is scheduled for December 30, at 2 p.m., during the judicial recess.
Gonet requested the suspension of the hearing on the grounds that it would be premature to proceed with the confrontation at this stage and that there were still no contradictions to be clarified at this stage. Toffoli, in turn, said that there is already conflicting information in the investigative files.
Vorcaro, Aquino and Costa will have to provide details, during the same hearing, on the process of selling the Master to BRB and its rejection by the BC.
Toffoli’s determination raised questions because it was made without prior request from investigators, such as the federal police.
The assessment made by members of Toffoli’s office, however, is that the Code of Criminal Procedure opens loopholes for judges to determine the production of evidence and other official measures, that is, without provocation from the police or the public prosecutor.
The minister, according to a person who discussed this call with him, intends to take advantage of the confrontation to clarify when the suspicions of fraud were discovered, who knew about them and what measures were taken or not.
One of the objectives of the process will be to assess the performance of the BRB management in light of the signs of fraud that have been raised throughout the negotiations, including alerts issued by the Central Bank itself.
Another front will consist of identifying the measures taken by the BC to monitor the bank securities market and identify those responsible for bankruptcies. No member of the Central Bank is under investigation in this matter.
The BRB board approved the purchase of 58% of Master in March this year, but the deal ended up being blocked by the Central Bank in September.
The investigation carried out by the PF and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office showed that, even before the agreement was formalized, Master had falsified and sold approximately 12.2 billion reais of credit portfolios registered with the BRB (6.7 billion reais in fake contracts and 5.5 billion reais in bonuses, the supposed value of the portfolio, plus a bonus).
The transfer of the wallets triggered an alert at the Central Bank due to the volume of resources, the purchasing history of each institution and the conflicting information presented.
The steps and measures linked to the investigation against Vorcaro and the private bank have been evaluated by Toffoli since December 3. The day before, the minister imposed the greatest secrecy on a request presented by the banker’s defense, made at the end of November, to bring the investigation into the businessman to court.
Although he decided that the case should be taken to the Supreme Court, Toffoli upheld all the decisions made at first instance. This means that the evidence collected during the operation is valid and that the federal police will analyze the elements obtained in violation of confidentiality.
Before the Master file was distributed to Toffoli, the minister traveled to Lima, Peru, for the Copa Libertadores final on November 28, in a private jet alongside one of the lawyers involved.
On November 18, the Central Bank decreed the liquidation of Banco Master. The previous evening, the federal police had arrested its controller, Daniel Vorcaro, as he was preparing to board a flight abroad.
The banker left the Guarulhos detention center on November 29, when Judge Solange Salgado of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF-1) granted a habeas corpus injunction ordering his release. Since then, he has continued to be monitored using an electronic ankle bracelet.
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