In an interview with Jovem Pan, parliamentarian defends CPI to investigate millionaire transfers to offices linked to STF ministers and states that the Senate is the appropriate forum to investigate magistrates
Senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB) stated that the Banco Master case has characteristics of organized crime and demonstrates a serious “infiltration of the Three Powers” of the Republic. In an interview with Morning newspaperyes Jovem Pan Newsthis Wednesday (28), the parliamentarian declared that the structure of the scheme indicates the influence of criminals in the highest spheres of the State, demanding an immediate response from the Legislature.
“Every time you have a criminal scheme of this magnitude, with billions and billions of reais, you will have infiltration by powerful people in the Three Powers. There is no way to have organized crime running without having a partnership within the public authorities. And this will be demonstrated in the financial movement”, said the senator, who is rapporteur for the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on Organized Crime.
“Supposedly, Master alone would have handled almost R$1 billion in two years in payments for supposed legal consultancies. This method of transferring resources is closely linked to money laundering activities. Therefore, we have to have a careful, serious, responsible investigation, but one that clearly points out the conduct of each person involved, and this includes the ministers”, he added.
According to Vieira, the objective of a new CPI on the Master bank should be elucidate the relationship between banker Daniel Vorcaro and Supreme Court ministers. “The CPI is to advance the investigation that has not been touched,” said the senator.
He also named ministers Alexandre de Moraes and Dias Toffoli, as well as former minister Ricardo Lewandowski. “THE way of working of the case is very clear: the proximity to politicians, to magistrates, especially in the Supreme Court. We already have indications of relevant financial transitions with three ministers: former minister Lewandowski, Alexandre (de Moraes) and Dias Toffoli. We cannot pre-sentence, but we need to clarify these cases.”
For the senator, the focus of the investigation should not be just the testimonies, but rather the breaking of confidentiality and the analysis of technical data. He questioned the payment of around R$130 million made by Banco Master to a law firm linked to the family of minister Alexandre de Moraes, as well as the interaction of bank funds in real estate transactions involving family members of Dias Toffoli.
Role of the Senate
Alessandro Vieira defended that the Senate is the appropriate constitutional forum to investigate the conduct of STF ministers, arguing that a democracy cannot have “untouchable people”. He demanded transparency from the other senators, remembering that votes for investigative measures are public and that each parliamentarian will have to explain their positions to society.
“Any investigative initiative must have support, support and encouragement. These are very serious facts. We are talking about tens of billions of reais that were stolen and will be paid by the public authorities, that is, by all of us”, he concluded.
Banco Master’s CPI is a consensus in Congress
Despite the efforts of the government’s hard core to distance itself from the crisis involving Banco Master and avoid political wear and tear in an election year, the issue has advanced in Congress with the support of parliamentarians linked to the government base.
The columnist for Young Pan Bruno Pinheiro found that congressmen from different parties, from the PT to the PL, for the National Congress.
In the Senate, the defense of the investigation has been taken up by parliamentarians from the MDB, a party that forms part of the government’s base. Senator Eduardo Braga (MDB) stated that he does not believe that the request to install a CPI will lose steam.
“I don’t believe this case will lose momentum! The biggest scandal in Brazil’s banking sector cannot fail to be investigated with complete transparency,” said Braga.
Also from MDB, senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo signaled his interest in further investigating the facts. “I hope it moves forward.” Asked about the possibility of a CPMI revealing the involvement of names from Congress, he replied “possibly”.
In the Chamber of Deputies, in addition to opposition parliamentarians, historic allies of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also have defended the investigation of the banking scandal. Representative Reginaldo Lopes (PT) stated that Banco Master’s CPI is “inevitable.”
Also this Wednesday, senator Izalci Lucas (PL) told the column that the pressure for the installation of the collegiate will be high. “It will gain a lot of strength. The pressure will be immense for immediate installation,” said Izalci.
Despite the interest expressed by parliamentarians on both sides of the political spectrum, the main difficulty must be the convocation of those involved to give testimony. Members of the government base point out that the owner of Banco Master, Daniel Vorcaro, maintains strong links with former president Jair Bolsonaro. The opposition claims that there is evidence that members of the government, STF ministers and other authorities in the financial system were aware of the case.
