The dialogue between and the banker, expanded a clash that has been described by members of the three Powers as an institutional conflict between the minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) and the Federal Police in the investigations into the fraud scandal of the
Investigators of the case argue behind the scenes that the case created losses for the investigation.
Authorities interviewed by the report Sheet reported fear of institutional rupture in the STF, which had been watching since the end of last year, when Toffoli brought the case to court, a spiraling crisis without the capacity to react. On Thursday night (12), the minister agreed to leave the report on the case.
The general perception is that the Master case triggered a cold war with attacks and counter-attacks between political actors and public bodies, with developments that can no longer be controlled in Brasília and in the states where investigations are underway.
In , the minister stated that he “never had any friendly relationship, much less an intimate friendship, with the investigated Daniel Vorcaro”. Toffoli also said that he “never received any amount from Daniel Vorcaro or his brother-in-law Fabiano Zettel”.
Sought for comment through the STF press office, he did not comment.
Pressure on the Federal Police increased after last week’s operation that targeted allies in Amapá of the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP). Politicians and authorities in Brasília began to complain that the PF was without brakes, demanding “restraint” in the already advanced work of the investigations.
One of the focuses of pressure against the PF is the investigation of leaks of information that are kept confidential by the Master’s investigations. Vorcaro’s own defense asked the STF minister to investigate the leaks.
Given the seriousness of the findings on Vorcaro’s cell phone, the general director of the PF, Andrei Rodrigues, delivered, last Monday (9), to the president of the , Edson Fachin, a report showing messages exchanged between the banker Daniel Vorcaro and his brother-in-law, Fabiano Zettel, in which they both discuss payments to the company Maridt,
The minister confirmed, in a note, that he “is part of the corporate structure” of the company Maridt, which was one of the owners of the Tayayá resort, in Paraná. He denies, however, being friends with Vorcaro and having received money from the former banker.
For investigators, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the payments would be the reason behind Toffoli’s conduct, as they could trigger a process of suspicion that would remove him from the case. One of the concerns is that this could invalidate evidence, under the allegation of procedural error, and cause the nullity of parts of the process.
As the Panel SA column showed, access to evidence seized in the second phase of , which investigates alleged fraud related to , is a delicate matter in the corridors of the PF. No one wanted to commit to saying that the experts did not receive the evidence, but they also did not confirm whether they had access.
Toffoli was the one who chose the experts after a back-and-forth over the fate of the operation’s evidence. The minister first determined that, not in the PF, as would be customary, and then authorized the evidence to be kept by the Attorney General’s Office.
Amid the escalation of the crisis, authorities in Brasília warned of the risk of the other STF ministers indirectly becoming “partners” in the Tayayá resort crisis and giving ammunition to Bolsonarist leaders’ speech against the court. Ultimately, this could lead to a kind of resignification of the acts of January 8, 2023.
Authorities monitoring developments in the case assessed that the minister should show his banking and telephone secrecy and prove payments to Maridt.
In a note released after the meeting that sealed Toffoli’s departure from the Master case, the Supreme Court ministers expressed “personal support” for their colleague and cited “the absence of suspicion or impediment”. The text says that the change in rapporteur occurred at the magistrate’s request, considering “high institutional interests”.
