Government members fear that banker Daniel Vorcaro will use his eventual plea bargain to involve members of the Executive in the Master case. The argument is that Vorcaro has nothing to lose and, therefore, could cause confusion.
Vorcaro was transferred on Thursday from a federal prison in the Federal District to the Federal Police Superintendency of Brasília. This occurred after signing a confidentiality agreement with the PF and the Attorney General’s Office, the starting point for a collaboration agreement.
Behind the scenes, assistants to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also dispute the relevance of the banker’s accusation. They say that data from their bank accounts and cell phones are already in the possession of the Federal Police and that this material is sufficient to support the investigation without the need for the defendant’s collaboration.
The government has so far adopted the discourse that the Master case involves more politicians from the right than the left. Profiles sympathetic to the government even published material on social media calling the Bolsomaster scandal.
The connections between Augusto Lima, Vorcaro’s former partner, with the government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), and the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, are minimized.
The allegation is that so far no concrete fact has emerged that proves that Lima benefited from Credcesta, a credit card granted to public employees that was operated by the government of Bahia, but was privatized in 2018. Shortly after privatization, a decree by then-governor Rui Costa changed the rules for using the card and allowed the expansion of its market.
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This week, it was revealed that the daughter-in-law of the government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), received at least R$11 million from Master, according to the Metrópoles portal. The amount was paid to the company BK Financeira, which it belongs to.
In a statement, Wagner said that “he is not aware of any investigation, as he has never participated in any intermediation or negotiation in favor of the aforementioned company”.
Furthermore, Lula received Vorcaro in December 2024 at Palácio do Planalto, outside the official agenda. The then banker was taken to the meeting by former Finance Minister Guido Mantega, who was consulting for Master.
In January, it was also revealed that the law firm of former Minister of Justice Ricardo Lewandowski received R$5 million from Banco Master to provide legal consultancy services. The contract was maintained even after he took over as Minister of Justice, in February 2024.
