The former president of BRB Paulo Henrique Costa was arrested by the PF (Federal Police) this Thursday morning (16) in a new phase of the Compliance Zero operation, which investigates crimes of corruption, money laundering, and financial crimes linked to Banco Master.
Paulo Henrique was removed from his position in November last year, during the first phase of the operation. At the time, the BC (Central Bank) decreed the extrajudicial liquidation of Banco Master amid the Federal Police operation that resulted in the arrest of Daniel Vorcaro. The BC’s decision came after the institution rejected the sale of Banco Master to BRB, as it assessed excessive risks in the operation.
The former president is like a bribe to make the purchase of the Master viable, and also to coordinate internal pressure so that .
According to the investigation of the CNNthe former bank president would have ignored internal governance recommendations and approved the purchase of Master’s rotten assetsin the region of R$12 billion, even though we knew they were fraudulent portfolios.
In total, funds linked to Banco Master would have purchased at least R$1 billion in BRB shares. Furthermore, 95% of the portfolios acquired by Banco de Brasília in the last two years were from Master.
In a statement to the PF in December 2025, . According to him, the inconsistencies in the transactions only became clear to him after the operations.
