The case of the liquidation of Banco Master is taking on increasingly serious consequences, involving several sectors of public administration, demonstrating that the practice of unregulated lobbying poisons the government from within. Particularly involved in controversies, the Federal Court (STF) is most affected by the legal insecurity that the individual attitudes of its ministers generate in society. The bank’s former controller, businessman Daniel Vorcaro, wears an electronic bracelet on his ankle and displays his influence as developments in the affair become known.
The revelation by columnist Malu Gaspar, of GLOBO, according to which Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Court, met with the President of the Central Bank, Gabriel Galípolo, to lobby in favor of the Master bank, is very serious, especially the detail that Moraes had contacted Galípolo by telephone on three other occasions. With each revelation of private interests involving STF decisions, the institution loses credibility and plunges the country into legal uncertainty.
Previously, Malu Gaspar revealed that lawyer Viviane Barci de Moraes, Moraes’ wife, had a contract with Master worth 3.6 million reais per month. This, in itself, raises doubts about the personal behavior of the ministers responsible for this matter. In 2023, causing great negative repercussions in public opinion, the Supreme Court decided to modify the Judicial Code allowing judges to judge cases concerning clients served by law firms belonging to their relatives up to the third degree.
Recent revelations reinforce criticism of the measure, with the STF having become an object of mistrust. In the same case, another conflict of interest affected a monocratic decision by Minister Dias Toffoli, who took over the Master’s case a few days after flying on a private jet in the company of, among others, the lawyer of a bank manager. The measure was accompanied by the secrecy decree, increasing distrust. Even if the two men did not speak about the case, but only about Palmeiras, the official version — just as Galípolo told his friends that he spoke to Moraes about various subjects, but never suffered pressure from the Master — the need for a code of conduct is obvious, as suggested by the president of the STF, Minister Edson Fachin, because for judges, like Cesar’s wife, it is not enough to be honest, it is must appear honest to the eyes and ears of public opinion.
The matter has even seen developments at the Federal Audit Court (TCU). Although only an advisory body to Parliament, it decided to intervene in BC’s decision to liquidate the Master. Minister Jhonatan de Jesus deemed the decision “hasty” and gave British Columbia 72 hours to explain. BC technicians accuse them of being under external pressure, to the point that Galípolo gave an interview to say that he could personally explain it to TCU, since all the steps were recorded and noted.
As Moraes does not officially deny that his wife received millions to work for the Vorcaro bank with the BC, at the same time as he summons Galípolo to a meeting to work in favor of the Master bank, this becomes a political crisis, grounds for a request for impeachment from the opposition — something already predictable even before the matter was revealed.
If before the signs indicated that it was mainly a political movement, originating from a proposal by another minister, Gilmar Mendes, aimed at making the Senate impeachment process against the Supreme Court ministers more difficult, the facts are now serious and require a formal declaration from the ministers concerned. If ministers, particularly Moraes, are able to prove that the allegations are not true, they must do so thoroughly.
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