The president of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), Justice Edson Fachin, on Friday (11) gave Justice André Mendonça 24 hours to lift the secrecy on additional files in the Banco Master case. The order grants a request from the federal prosecution service (PGR) and requires Mendonça, the case's rapporteur, to send the court presidency and the justices' offices every proceeding tied to Petition 15.556, the origin of the investigation, and to Operation Compliance Zero.
Fachin granted the request filed by Deputy Attorney General Hindenburgo Chateaubriand Filho, who leads the criminal case and will act alongside Attorney General Paulo Gonet. The files must be delivered on a dedicated hard drive. Only ongoing investigative steps whose effectiveness could be harmed by early disclosure are exempt.
"...order, within 24 hours, the delivery, on a dedicated hard drive, to this Presidency and to the offices of the distinguished Justices, of all proceedings contained in or related to Petition 15.556 and to the so-called 'Operation Compliance Zero' (Inquiry 5026), as well as the lifting of secrecy over Petition 15.556 (and the proceedings contained in or related to it)," Fachin wrote.
Pressure from prosecutors and Moraes
The decision answers prosecutors' criticism of the release Mendonça issued on Thursday (10). Petition 15.556 is the original core of Compliance Zero, a Federal Police investigation into an alleged financial fraud and money laundering scheme involving Banco Master and its owner, Daniel Vorcaro, with allegations reaching members of Congress and Justice Moraes himself. According to the PGR, the published list leaves out a large share of the proceedings tied to the broader inquiry. "What is verified, however, from the list sent is that it does not contain a large part of the proceedings currently connected to the broader investigation known as Operation Compliance Zero," the office said, warning that a partial release could create a "misleading idea of transparency."
Justice Alexandre de Moraes pressed in the same direction. In a memo to Fachin, he said Mendonça made a "selective choice" and "subjectively selected the lifting of secrecy, making public only what he considered convenient." According to Moraes, of the 4,514 documents across the 15 proceedings tied to the case, only 4,334 were made public and 180 remain sealed. "The lifting of secrecy was partial, excluding 180 documents and, as a consequence, making the evidentiary analysis harder," he wrote. Moraes also asked that two petitions be tried together: 16.662, which covers his message exchanges with Vorcaro, and 16.704, which gathers reports on Mendonça's handling of court cases.
Mendonça's response and Tuesday's session
Mendonça denied acting selectively. In a filing sent to Fachin, he said he had complied with the president's request and made public every proceeding related to the matter the court will weigh on Tuesday (15). Keeping other inquiries sealed, he said, followed "a prudent and responsible analysis, considering the existence of ongoing investigations and the need to protect the personal data of those under investigation." He argued that proceedings used to obtain banking and tax records can never be published in full. According to G1, Thursday's release kept secret probes including one linked to Senator Jaques Wagner and one into the financing of the film "Dark Horse."
In a separate order, Fachin told Mendonça to state his position on Justice Cristiano Zanin's request for access to the full data seized from Vorcaro's phone, which Zanin says he needs for a "complete and necessary" review. The 24-hour clock started running on Friday. On Tuesday (15), the full court meets in a session called by Fachin to judge Petition 16.662. Adding Petition 16.704 to the agenda still depends on a decision by the court presidency.