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Brazil’s most powerful judge faces scrutiny over alleged ties to jailed banker accused of fraud Image: X @MarioNawfal
🇲🇽 Mexico /Crime & Justice

Brazil’s most powerful judge faces scrutiny over alleged ties to jailed banker accused of fraud

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Documents & data Under investigation
  • Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes faces scrutiny after preliminary police findings indicated an unusually close relationship with jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro.
  • Vorcaro, the former owner of Banco Master, is under investigation for alleged multibillion-dollar financial fraud, and two major Brazilian newspapers have called for de Moraes to resign.
  • Investigators found messages in Vorcaro’s phone seeking judicial and law-enforcement intervention, while de Moraes’s responses remain unknown.

Alexandre de Moraes, widely regarded as Brazil’s most powerful judge, has come under intense pressure after preliminary police findings pointed to an allegedly improper relationship with jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro.

De Moraes serves as rapporteur in the case involving the 2023 coup attempt and is internationally known for overseeing proceedings that led to former President Jair Bolsonaro’s imprisonment on coup-related charges. The new allegations have brought him into the investigations surrounding Vorcaro, the former owner of Banco Master.

There is no longer a place for Alexandre de Moraes on the Supreme Court. If the justice does not resign, the Senate must use an impeachment process to rid the court of this burden.

— Folha de S. Paulo editorialThe newspaper called for de Moraes’s resignation or removal from the Supreme Court.

Banco Master was placed into extrajudicial liquidation by Brazil’s central bank in November 2025 over alleged large-scale fraud in the financial system. The case has since prompted suspicion involving senior figures across Brazil’s three branches of government, including Supreme Court justices, central bank officials and politicians from different ideological camps.

On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça, who is handling the case, lifted judicial secrecy and made preliminary police investigations public. A forensic examination of Vorcaro’s phone reportedly uncovered compromising messages allegedly sent to de Moraes, as well as records of multimillion-dollar business dealings, meetings and offers of luxury experiences for the judge and his family.

No longer fit to continue.

— O Estado de S. Paulo editorialThe newspaper said de Moraes should no longer remain on Brazil’s highest court.

Vorcaro allegedly sought the “protection” of Brazil’s attorney general, Paulo Gonet, and Federal Police Director General Andrei Rodrigues. Days before his arrest, he also reportedly asked de Moraes whether he should leave the country.

The responses from de Moraes remain unknown. According to the investigation, he used disappearing messages, and police have never seized his phone. The newspapers Folha de S. Paulo and O Estado de S. Paulo have joined political calls for his resignation. Folha said there was no longer a place for him on the Supreme Court, while Estado argued that he was no longer fit to remain on Brazil’s highest court.

Protection

— Daniel VorcaroThe jailed banker allegedly used the term when seeking help involving Brazil’s attorney general and Federal Police director.
About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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