Operator says in plea deal he delivered ‘suitcases of cash’ to Vorcaro’s emissaries

Antônio Carlos Freixo Júnior, owner of Entre Investimentos, told prosecutors that he generated cash and handed it over in suitcases to emissaries of banker Daniel Vorcaro, according to his plea bargain.

The agreement was signed with Brazil’s Office of the Prosecutor General last week. Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, the 8th, to question Freixo Júnior about whether he entered the deal voluntarily and to decide whether to approve it.

Under the agreement, Freixo Júnior committed to pay about 2 billion reais in fines. He also provided details of financial operations he says he carried out at Vorcaro’s request, including payments to the Havengate fund in Texas, managed by a lawyer for Eduardo Bolsonaro. Freixo Júnior said the money came from a kind of joint account he maintained with Vorcaro and used to cover expenses of interest to the banker.

Messages and payment records from Vorcaro’s cellphone documented at least $10 million in transfers to Havengate, equivalent at the time to 61 million reais. The transfers allegedly followed Vorcaro’s instructions and were described as sponsorship for “Dark Horse,” a film about former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Freixo Júnior provided documents showing that the transfers from Entre Investimentos to Havengate originated in the joint account. He also handed over foreign-exchange records for the transfers abroad, which investigators could use to pursue suspicions of foreign-exchange evasion. He said Vorcaro also asked him to prepare cash and deliver it to intermediaries who would pass it on to the final recipients. Investigators are expected to compare his account with other evidence, including data from Vorcaro’s cellphone, to identify those recipients.