The feud among justices of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) has cast doubt on the progress of the investigations into Banco Master and the pension fraud at the INSS, the federal agency that pays retirement benefits. According to Folha de S.Paulo, the open questions range from new police operations to response times for requests by the Federal Police and by suspects, and even which justice will rule on urgent matters. Investigators, defense lawyers and judges privately report fear that the dispute could drag on for months and contaminate the cases.
The turning point came less than two weeks ago. Court President Edson Fachin ordered the case files sent to the President's chambers. The rapporteur remains, officially, Justice André Mendonça, but the records now sit with the presidency of the court. Folha notes the move is unusual and has drawn criticism. The suspension, last week, of the judgment on the report about messages from banker Daniel Vorcaro to Justice Alexandre de Moraes made the scenario even more uncertain.
Federal Police holds back, prosecutors work "as far as possible"
Officials at the top of the Federal Police and the Prosecutor General's Office (PGR) told Folha that procedural questions remain. Since Fachin's decision, the Federal Police has filed no request with the court and has no plans to do so soon. Inside the prosecution service, the assessment is that only talks on plea bargain agreements can move ahead, because they do not depend on a judge during the negotiation phase. Officials say the work continues "as far as possible", with analysis of material already gathered and depositions, which need no prior judicial authorization. Mendonça recently approved the plea deal of Antônio Carlos Freixo Júnior.
Origins of the crisis and what comes next
The dispute escalated on September 3, when Moraes told Fachin of facts that, in his reading, pointed to acts by his colleague that could amount to administrative misconduct, a crime of responsibility and abuse of authority, as reported by Poder360. The request was made within the fake news inquiry, opened in 2019 and still inconclusive. It came two days after Mendonça made public, on September 1, part of the Banco Master investigation. According to the Federal Police, there were 52 messages sent by Vorcaro to Moraes, found in the notes app of the banker's phone, with no record of any replies. Moraes argues Mendonça has been steering the inquiries against members of the court. The police intelligence report Moraes presented, though, describes itself as a scenario analysis without probative value.
The next step has a deadline. Monday (21) ends the five working days Fachin gave Mendonça to respond to Moraes's allegations, after Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet weighed in. With or without a response, the files return to the STF presidency for review. Separately, the full bench still has to decide whether to open an investigation into Moraes over his exchanges with Vorcaro. That judgment was frozen by a request for more time from Justice Flávio Dino, which can delay a merits vote by up to 90 days.