The president of Brazil's Central Bank, Gabriel Galípolo, confirmed on Thursday (24) in Brasília that he has been summoned by the Federal Police to testify as a witness in the inquiry into the Banco Master case, the bank owned by former banker Daniel Vorcaro, who is under investigation. The testimony is expected in early October. Asked about the exact date, Galípolo said he did not remember it, according to CNN Brasil.

Besides the head of the monetary authority, which regulates and supervises Brazil's banking system, the Federal Police also summoned former Central Bank president Roberto Campos Neto, BTG Pactual owner André Esteves and the regulator's oversight director, Ailton de Aquino, to give statements. The summons order was reported by G1 on September 9.

The inquiry investigates two former Central Bank officials: Paulo Sérgio Neves de Souza, a former oversight director, and Belline Santana, a former head of Banking Supervision. According to the inquiry, as reported by Folha de S.Paulo, the two allegedly worked in favor of Vorcaro's interests inside the regulator and passed on information about its oversight work. Their lawyers deny that they took any steps to favor the former banker. Since March, the CGU, the federal government's internal control office, has also been examining their conduct in a disciplinary proceeding that could lead to their dismissal. None of the people named has been convicted.

How the case got here

• February 2022: the CVM, Brazil's securities regulator, opened a case based on a report from the FGC, the private deposit insurance fund, with red flags about Master; the case was later shelved without investigation, according to a decision by Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino.
• March: the CGU opened a disciplinary proceeding against the two former Central Bank officials.
• September 9: G1 reported that the Federal Police ordered the summonses of Galípolo, Campos Neto and Esteves.
• September 24: Galípolo confirmed his summons; on the same day, Dino ordered the Federal Police to open an inquiry into the CVM's alleged omission.

Reports by Folha based on messages extracted from Vorcaro's phone point to Master payments in 2025 to companies tied to a relative of a Central Bank official and to a former official: 120,000 reais to LR Consultoria, owned by Leonardo Eyer Harris, brother of Ricardo Eyer Harris, chief of staff to director Gilneu Vivan, and 3 million reais to JGM Solutions, owned by João André Calviño Marques Pereira, a former head of the financial regulation department. Ricardo Eyer Harris said he had informed senior management about his brother's contract and denied any direct or indirect role in decisions related to Master; João André said the payments began in August 2025, after he left the bank in June of that year. Galípolo defended the official's presumption of innocence and said the staffer had told his direct superiors about the consulting work his brother did for Vorcaro in the mining sector.

The next step is Galípolo's testimony to the Federal Police as a witness, expected in early October. No dates have been announced for the statements of Campos Neto, Esteves and Aquino.