Brazilian police commissioners urge prosecutor to recuse himself from investigation citing him

Brazil’s National Association of Federal Police Commissioners has asked Attorney General Paulo Gonet to withdraw from an investigation into a police report that mentions him, adding another dispute to the crisis surrounding the Supreme Federal Court.

Gonet ordered an inquiry into whether outside interference affected the preparation of the report. The document contains messages found on the phone of Daniel Vorcaro, the former owner of Banco Master, who was arrested in an investigation into large-scale financial fraud.

The investigation exposed Vorcaro’s extensive contacts with senior officials, including Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes presided over the case that sent former President Jair Bolsonaro to prison for attempting a coup. The report was prepared by four commissioners and three Federal Police agents at the order of Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça, and contains 52 messages Vorcaro sent to Moraes. Gonet’s name also appears in the document.

The police association said Gonet should not intervene in an investigation involving a report that names him. It called for all facts uncovered by the Banco Master operation to be examined “fully and without selectivity,” with no authority excluded.

The ADPF said the investigators had simply followed a judicial order and had no discretion to decide whether to prepare the report or challenge the instructions. If the Attorney General’s Office believes the order was irregular or should have been disclosed in advance, the association said, it should challenge the decision before the Supreme Court rather than open a procedure against the investigators. It also argued that external oversight of police activity does not create a hierarchy or give prosecutors disciplinary power over police commissioners and agents. The group, which represents more than 2,300 Federal Police commissioners, asked Gonet’s procedure to be closed.

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fully and without selectivity