Congressman Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), a prominent Bolsonaro ally in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, asked banker Daniel Vorcaro for help in unblocking a mining asset tied to his lawyer and former congressional aide, Thiago Rodrigues de Faria. The request is in an audio message sent on March 30, 2025, to which the column of Juliana Dal Piva at ICL Notícias says it had exclusive access. In the recording, Nikolas calls Vorcaro, owner of the now-defunct Banco Master, "Dani" and "lindão", Portuguese for "handsome", and says he wishes the two were closer.
Nikolas says he does not know what the matter is about and forwards it because he trusts his friend "totally". "Ei Dani, tudo bom? (...) É o seguinte, meu amigo, meu advogado, enfim, irmão meu aqui, comentou comigo e falou daqui do seu nome" (Hi Dani, how are you? My friend here, my lawyer, mentioned your name), he says at the start.
"Ele falou: 'cara, tô com um ativo minerário lá, inclusive já passou pela ficha técnica (...) tá pendente lá, tem algumas pessoas que sabem disso lá na empresa.' E eu falei: 'não, ué, eu posso dar um toque nele'. (...) Tô passando aí pra você (...) passar o contato dele aqui pra vocês tocarem isso, beleza? No mais, qualquer coisa tô aqui à disposição."
Vorcaro replied minutes later with a single-view audio. Nikolas thanked him and sent Faria's contact. "Amém irmão. Estamos na guerra juntos" (Amen, brother. We are in this war together), the banker wrote. On April 1, 2025, Nikolas said Faria would be in Brasilia and available "qualquer horário" (at any time). Vorcaro answered a day later: "Deixa comigo" (Leave it to me). According to ICL Notícias, the messages do not show whether the banker acted on the request.
Apologies and the 2022 flights
In the same audio, Nikolas apologized for posts in April 2024 that had angered Vorcaro. At the time, the congressman questioned on social media who paid for a legal forum in London attended by justices of the STF, Brazil's Supreme Court, and of the STJ and TSE, the top appeals and electoral courts; it later came to light that Banco Master had also financed the event. "Pastor, eu não fazia ideia que era este o Banco do Dani etc. e tudo, se não, obviamente eu não teria postado" (Pastor, I had no idea this was Dani's bank, otherwise I would obviously not have posted), Nikolas says, recalling a conversation with pastor André Valadão. The recording ends with "Um abraço, lindão" (A hug, handsome).
Their ties resurfaced because of other messages. According to Estado de Minas, in April 2024 chats with businessman Flávio Carneiro, Vorcaro wrote: "Esse Nikolas eu banquei todos os voos dele" (I paid for all of this Nikolas's flights). He then threatened to expose the congressman: "Vouch (sic) mandar soltsr isso". The paper recalls that in the 2022 runoff campaign, Nikolas used a Vorcaro jet for about ten days on Jair Bolsonaro's behalf, crossing nine states plus the Federal District. The use of the aircraft was revealed in March by journalist Malu Gaspar of O Globo; Nikolas said at the time he did not know who owned the plane when he accepted the invitation. The messages do not detail how many flights the banker says he paid for, or over what period.
The lawyer and Operação Rejeito
The column sent five questions to Nikolas and Faria. Faria said the congressman is campaigning and would not be bothered. "Essas perguntas são nada a ver" (These questions are beside the point), he said. In an audio, he said he works in mining, sent the asset "pra todo mundo" (to everyone) and denied any wrongdoing: he was "never called to testify to the Federal Police because I have nothing to do with this". According to Estado de Minas, Faria acted as intermediary, under a confidentiality contract, in a deal involving companies investigated in Operação Rejeito, launched in September 2025 against illegal iron ore extraction in the Serra do Curral, in Nova Lima, in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area; the Federal Police made 22 arrests. According to the investigators, a January 2025 contract between Gmais Ambiental and Faria's firm provided for 25% of the profit in a deal estimated at between US$ 30 million and US$ 45 million.
The exchanges surface as the Federal Police examines Vorcaro's relations with Carneiro, investigated on suspicion of being the banker's hidden partner, and as the Master case remains before the STF. The messages released so far do not show whether Vorcaro fulfilled the congressman's request.