Businessman João Carlos Mansur, former chairman of the board of asset manager Reag Investimentos, has submitted a plea bargain proposal to Brazil's Attorney General's Office (PGR) focused on information about Daniel Vorcaro, the former controlling shareholder of Banco Master. The news was reported Wednesday by columnist Natália Portinari of UOL Notícias.
According to UOL's reporting, reproduced by the outlet Times Brasil, the proposal is in its final adjustment phase before formal signing and includes 17 attachments detailing suspected financial crimes. As part of the deal, Mansur is expected to pay roughly 40 million reais (about $7.7 million) in fines, a sum said to match what he received from Reag during his time at the company. The document still needs to be formally signed and submitted to Justice André Mendonça of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) for possible approval.
The centerpiece of the collaboration is Vorcaro. Per UOL's reporting, Mansur described negotiations he held directly with the banker and said those dealings made clear that Vorcaro was aware of the alleged diversion of funds from Banco Master.
Outlet BNews, citing Revista Oeste, had reported two days earlier that Mansur's defense team and the PGR had already reached an understanding on most terms of a potential deal. That report said Mansur is under investigation on two fronts: the Banco Master case and Operation Carbono Oculto ("Hidden Carbon"), launched in August 2025 to probe suspected fraud, tax evasion and money laundering in the fuel sector. Talks toward a plea agreement began in late 2025, initially with a proposal to federal prosecutors in São Paulo that did not move forward.
Mansur and Vorcaro had business ties and were at one point represented by the same lawyer, José Luís Oliveira Lima, known as Juca. In March, according to BNews, investigators had considered the possibility that the two men could offer complementary accounts under separate collaboration agreements.
The Banco Master case
Vorcaro was arrested in November 2025 at an airport as he attempted to leave Brazil on a private jet bound for Malta, the same day the Federal Police launched Operation Compliance Zero and the Central Bank ordered the extrajudicial liquidation of the bank. The case is regarded as one of the largest banking fraud schemes ever uncovered in Brazil, with suspected diverted funds estimated in the billions of reais. Banco Master, a private lender, had offered high-yield investment products despite lacking the assets to back them, a scheme described by investigators as functioning like a pyramid.