The president of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), Justice Edson Fachin, has ordered the Federal Police to report within 24 hours on the custody and condition of data extracted from the phone of former banker Daniel Vorcaro. The decision came on Saturday (12) and responds to three justices who demand access to the full material before a trial scheduled for Tuesday (15).
Justices Gilmar Mendes, Cristiano Zanin and Alexandre de Moraes made the request. As an alternative to a handover by the case's rapporteur, they asked that the court itself order the Federal Police to provide copies of the data. According to CNN Brasil, Fachin has not yet decided whether he will authorize sharing the material with the other justices.
The dispute over the device
The phone is an iPhone 17 Pro seized by the Federal Police. On Friday (11), Zanin asked Fachin for access to the full mirror of the device, arguing that the full bench needs the complete context of the data before ruling. The rapporteur of the Banco Master investigations, Justice André Mendonça, explained that his office holds only a backup copy of the material, on an encrypted hard drive sent by the police in March 2026. The copy remains sealed and inaccessible, he said, and he "never handled" it. The original device, according to Mendonça, is stored in Federal Police deposits. In the response cited by Fachin, the rapporteur wrote:
"It is a counter-proof to be used only in case of loss or misplacement of the original material, which is in the possession of the Federal Police, within its chain of custody."
Zanin rejected that justification in a new filing. He argued that the seal on a backup copy does not prevent it from being shared with the other justices, and noted that Vorcaro's own defense has already had access to the full material. Moraes reinforced the request: "It is not up to the reporting justice to choose which documents are accessible to the bench to carry out its judgment." Gilmar, also in a filing, pressed for the content to be released before Tuesday's session, either through Mendonça's office or directly by the police.
What comes next
The Prosecutor General's office (PGR) has joined the dispute. In a filing sent on Saturday, it called it "relevant" that the justices review beforehand all material that may ground Tuesday's judgment, repeating a position presented the day before.
The deadline for the Federal Police expires on Sunday (13). On Tuesday, the full court will debate the validity of a Federal Police report that pointed to a supposed relationship between Moraes and Vorcaro, who is jailed in the Banco Master investigations, and will decide whether to open or shelve an investigation against the justice. Fachin, who took over as the case's rapporteur this week, will lead the session, to be broadcast on TV Justiça, the court's channel.