Spies hired by Daniel Vorcaro already knew since July 23rd of last year that investigators were very close to closing the puzzle of fraud that involved the attempted acquisition of the Master by BRB (Bank of Brasília).
That day, a Hacker managed to access all the case documentationwhich was on the computer of prosecutor Gabriel Pimenta, then responsible for the criminal investigation opened by the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) against the owner of the Master.
Only Pimenta had access to the case files that ended up on the ex-banker’s cell phone the next day.
The illegal access was discovered by the prosecutor a few days after a scan of the systems by the MPF’s technology department, but the espionage scheme did not stop there.
Despite level 5, the maximum degree of secrecy adopted by the Court, the former banker also knew in advance that judge Ricardo Leite, from the 10th Federal Court of Brasília, had signed, at around 3pm on November 17th, the request to arrest him in the first phase of the operation Zero Compliancewhich investigated the sale of R$12.1 billion in credit portfolios to BRB.
The leak of the operation triggered a counterattack by Vorcaro’s team, according to reports made to Sheetin a succession of events compared by investigators to a detective film plot. Vorcaro’s final move in an attempt to escape unharmed would be to flee the country.
At the same time as he was racing to obtain authorization from air traffic control bodies for a flight plan to Malta, in the Mediterranean, his defense presented a petition to the judge to revoke any precautionary measure that had been issued to avoid arrest.
Late in the afternoon, Fictor Holding Financeira announced a Master purchase proposal. For investigators, the bid was nothing more than a simulacrum to facilitate Vorcaro’s escape.
Earlier, between 1:30 pm and 2:10 pm, Vorcaro met, via videoconference, with the Director of Inspection of the Central BankAilton de Aquino, with the then head of the Banking Supervision department, Belline Santanaand his deputy, Paulo Sérgio de Souza. The last two were removed from the bank and are being investigated for allegedly providing informal consultancy to the former banker.
At the meeting, the owner of Master spoke of the initiatives that were underway in search of a market solution that would avoid the bank’s liquidation. The report presented included the hypothesis of selling the institution to potential foreign investors. He even announced that he would travel to Dubai to advance the negotiations.
The speech sparked suspicion in the BC about the risk of flight, reinforced by the fact that the former banker had asked to bring forward a meeting that was scheduled for the end of that week to that Monday.
While conversations with the BC were taking place, the PF monitored Vorcaro’s steps. The police identified at least three flight plans. Vorcaro’s defense always denied the escape attempt, claiming that he was traveling to Dubai to contact buyers.
Members of the corporation believe that the existence of more than one route would prove that he was trying to escape the country and that he was supplied by informants, as later shown by messages taken from his cell phone exchanged with Luiz Phillipi Machado de Moraes Mourão, known as “Sicário”.
Identified by the PF as the central operator of a group called “The Gang”he coordinated activities aimed at obtaining information and monitoring people and the use of violence.
Mourão died at the beginning of March after an attempt to suicide in a cell at the agency’s superintendence in Minas Gerais, according to information from the PF, shortly after being arrested in the second phase of Compliance Zero.
TERMINAL STATE
Vorcaro’s strategy did not work. He was arrested by the PF at Guarulhos airport on the night of the 17th. The BC board had already approved Master’s liquidation, almost at the same time that the judge signed the arrest.
The announcement was only made the following day (18) after liquidator Eduardo Félix Bianchini entered the Master building in São Paulo. The BC concluded that the conglomerate was facing a chronic liquidity crisis, which evolved into an acute and unsustainable crisis:
“Inadequate business strategies, accompanied by serious irregularities and illicit acts (including assignment of non-existent credits and repeated non-compliance with regulatory standards), combined with the composition of low liquidity assets and the frustration of market solutions, justified the immediate adoption of remedial measures”, explained the BC in a report to the TCU (Federal Audit Court).
Former BC employees told the report that they had never seen so much pressure on the agency. In testimony to the organized crime CPI, the president of the BC, Gabriel Galípolo, reported an episode on the eve of the decision to veto the operation with BRBin September, which portrays the situation:
“The week of the rejection of the BRB purchase, I remember walking from my residence to the BC and there wasn’t a bus stop where there wasn’t a photo of a BC director (Renato Gomes) accused of rejecting the acquisition, (saying) that he was doing political work because he was rejecting it”, he said.
Images with the photo of the then director Renato Gomes, responsible for the area that analyzed and recommended the veto to the operationwere spread on light panels managed by Metrópoles in Brasília, pointing to him as responsible for making the business difficult. Former senator Luiz Estevão recently told Folha that the panels display, in addition to advertisements, journalistic reports.
“According to public knowledge, several media outlets signed advertising contracts with the Master/BRB duo”, he added.
On the eve of the denial, Centrão parties in the Chamber signed an urgent request for a bill allowing Congress to remove BC presidents and directors.
The two movements resulted in greater unity within the BC collegiate, which at the beginning of the process was divided. This fragmentation was represented by directors Aquino, who defended a sale of the bank, and Gomes, who was in favor of a faster liquidation.
On the day the settlement was announced, Master had R$4.8 million in cash, while the maturities of CDBs (Bank Deposit Certificates) were R$48.6 million on that date. Adding up the salaries for that entire week, the liability was R$123.8 million.
Vorcaro’s bank ended up with an immediate liquidity deficit exceeding 2,400%. To the TCU, the BC said that the settlement reduced costs for society and the FGC (Credit Guarantee Fund).
When contacted this Thursday (9) and Friday (10), Vorcaro’s defense did not respond.
WEB OF FUNDS AND COMPANIES
To the Master cheats had at least 216 different funds and 143 companies, according to a survey by Sheetwhich It began to be assembled in January of this year. Special software was used to assemble the connections as if they were a solar system and its satellites. The list is replenished regularly.
The thread of this network began to be pulled based on the six Reag fundsidentified as suspects by the BC in the investigation into Master: Astralo 95, Reag Growth 95, Hans 95, Olaf 95, Maia 95 and Anna. Together, they had a net worth of R$102.4 billion.
These funds contain the assets used by Vorcaro to operate the frauds, such as rotten papers of the extinct Besc (Bank of the State of Santa Catarina)known as cartouches, and carbon credits.
These difficult-to-value assets had their value estimated at billions by the funds. From then on, their shares increased in value.
The money obtained was injected into other funds and companies in the fraud ring. In one of these cases, the money was used to buy the R$36 million mansion that Vorcaro used when he was in Brasília and which was frequented by authorities.
TIMELINE
September 3, 2025
BC vetoes the request for authorization to sell Master’s assets to BRB. The rejection was based on the fact that the operation did not satisfy the economic-financial viability requirement required for this type of transaction.
September 23, 2025
Vorcaro sells his stake in the Kovr insurance company to minority partners in the business and tries to renew the FGC assistance line with the promise to sell other personal assets
September 30, 2025
Report from Sheet reveals that the PF opened a confidential investigation into the Master bank after the BC reported suspected fraud to the MPF. With the investigation, Vorcaro no longer has a chance of renewing his line at the FGC due to the clause in the fund’s contractual rules
November 2025
BC makes a new communication to the MPF after discovering new evidence of crimes of misappropriation of resources and fraudulent management
November 17, 2025
Meeting between Vorcaro and BC supervision, between 1:30 pm and 2:10 pm, without presentation of formal solution proposals. A proposal from Fictor partners to acquire the Master is filed on the same day. Operation is announced in the late afternoon
November 17, 2025
The BC Board approves the extrajudicial liquidation of the banks Master, Master de Investimentos, Letsbank, Master brokera and Raet (Temporary Special Administration Regime) for Will Bank. Vorcaro is arrested at the International Airport when he tries to board a private jet while trying to fly to Dubai.
November 18, 2025
Announcement of the liquidation is made the morning of the following day after the liquidator enters Master’s headquarters in São Paulo
