In a hearing in December, the former owner of the banking institution denied irregularities and classified the liquidation as the result of ‘internal forces’ at the BC
Banker Daniel Vorcaro, former controller of Banco Master, gave a statement to the Federal Police on December 30th, as part of investigations investigating alleged financial irregularities and reckless management at the institution.
During the hearing, Vorcaro denied having committed crimes, defended the legality of operations with BRB (Banco de Brasília) and stated that he was a victim of persecution by competitors and sectors of the Central Bank.
Vorcaro, which was preventively arrested in Operation Compliance Zeroargued that the operations investigated did not generate damage to the financial system.
Check out the main points covered in the statement below:
1. Denial of fraud and loss to BRB
The main point of the interrogation was the issuance of Bank Credit Certificates (CCBs) backed by portfolios of the company “Tirreno”. Vorcaro maintained that, as the operation was not completed in accounting terms and the money was retained, there was no crime.
“For a crime or fraud to happen, someone has to have an advantage and someone else has to have a loss. In this case, BRB had no loss, no customer had a loss and Banco Master had no advantage in this business”, said Vorcaro to the PF.
He reiterated several times that the operation was undone before it was completed: “I can’t say that the transaction or the wallets were fake. I can’t say that. What I can say is that the transaction didn’t exist.”
2. Meetings with Ibaneis Rocha, governor of DF
Vorcaro, Ibaneis Rocha (MDB), but denied that the meetings involved political facilitation requests for the sale of the bank to BRB.
“I spoke on a few occasions, yes,” he said, admitting that the governor had already been to his house: “He has already been to my house, if I’m not mistaken, once.”
The banker used his own arrest as an argument to refute the influence peddling thesis: “If I have so many political relationships, as they are saying, and if I had asked for help from these politicians, I wouldn’t have been denied the BRB operation, I wouldn’t be here wearing an ankle bracelet, I wouldn’t have been arrested.”
3. Criticism of the ‘internal war’ at the Central Bank
The executive claimed that the Central Bank (BC) monitored the Master’s operations “daily” and suggested that his arrest was the result of a internal dispute in the regulatory authority.
“I think the big problem that happened in this story, doctor, unfortunately, is that within the Central Bank, there were people who wanted a market solution, and there were other people, departments, who wanted what happened to happen and ended up winning.”
According to him, the intervention and liquidation decreed in November prevented a positive outcome: “It was a happy ending for the financial system. It wasn’t just for me, which was unfortunately interrupted by the operation.”
4. Risk of flight and travel to Dubai
Regarding the trip he would take to Dubai the day after the police operation, Vorcaro classified the suspected escape as unreasonablestating that had already notified the BC about the business trip.
“The issue of escape is, sorry, a completely out of context issue.”
When asked if he imagined there was a warrant for his arrest, he replied: “No way. Not in my worst nightmares did I think I could.”
5. Final order
At the end of his testimony, Vorcaro appealed to the investigators, asking that the case be looked at from a different perspective, away from media pressure.
“I wish there was the benefit of the doubt in your minds. If there was, we wouldn’t need to be here. There really isn’t anyone who was harmed. There really isn’t a 12 billion fraud.”
