Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) published in the early hours of Friday (11) at least two contracts in full, drawn up by the law firm of Viviane Barci de Moraes, the wife of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, tied to the group that controls Banco Master. The release, on the court's website, came minutes after Justice André Mendonça, the justice overseeing the case, lifted the judicial secrecy that covered the inquiries. The main document provided for payments of R$ 131 million over three years for legal services to the bank.

Signed in 2024, the contract covered the implementation and continuous improvement of a compliance program, plus "strategic advisory" work in proceedings before the Federal Police, state civil police forces, the central bank, the federal tax authority and Cade, Brazil's antitrust regulator, according to Folha de S.Paulo. It also granted the firm the right to represent the bank in court cases at every level. In the assessment of the Federal Police, cited by the newspaper, the document had been drafted by the justice himself.

The second contract released by the court covers services to Viking Participações, another company of former banker Daniel Vorcaro, the Master owner. Payments would add up to R$ 50 million net, after taxes, over three years.

In a statement released last week, when the Federal Police analysis became public, the Barci de Moraes firm said it followed its standard procedure. According to the statement, "due to the scope of the request for the contracting of legal services by Banco Master", the firm's compliance department sought information from the justice, "as the husband of the firm's managing partner".

The statement adds that, since there was no provision for work before the STF and no legal impediment, given that the justice had never judged any case involving Banco Master, the contract was signed and the legal services were provided. No one involved has been convicted: Vorcaro is under investigation in Operation Compliance Zero and remains in jail; no formal accusation has been filed against Moraes at the court.

How the case got here

The Master case grew out of Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates an alleged scheme of financial fraud and money laundering at Vorcaro's bank and involves allegations against members of Congress and the justice himself, according to BBC News Brasil. The main steps, as reported by G1 and the BBC:

• November 17, 2025: Vorcaro is arrested at Guarulhos airport as he tries to board a private jet bound for the United Arab Emirates, on the eve of the launch of Compliance Zero; a federal appeals court orders his release about ten days later.
• March 2026: after a new request by the Federal Police, signed on February 27, the banker is arrested again.
• September 1: Mendonça lifts the secrecy of a Federal Police report with signs that Vorcaro had sought advice and exchanged information with Moraes; among the messages is "Do you think I should already be out by Monday?" (in Portuguese, "Acha que segunda já tenho que estar fora?"), sent two days before the arrest.
• September 3: Moraes strikes back and lifts the secrecy of Federal Police intelligence reports on alleged irregular conduct by Mendonça.
• September 9: STF President Edson Fachin takes the Fake News inquiry away from Moraes and schedules a full-court session on the Master case.
• September 10: at Fachin's request, Mendonça ends the secrecy of Petition 15.556, the original core of the operation, and of 14 related proceedings; the contracts go up on the STF website in the following hours.

Next steps

On Tuesday (15), the full STF will examine the validity of the Federal Police report produced at Mendonça's request, which pointed to a supposed relationship between Moraes and Vorcaro. The making of the document and the fallout of the investigation have caused an unprecedented internal crisis at the court, according to G1. The session could lead to the opening of an investigation against the justice, in the assessment of BBC News Brasil. Mendonça also said steps are being taken to send complete copies of the case files to the court's presidency and to every justice's chamber.