Two associations for public employees in Bahia state under investigation in the Banco Master case held more than 103,000 authorizations for payroll deductions from state workers' paychecks in 2025, in a portfolio valued at an estimated R$ 1 billion. The figures come from a Federal Police inquest whose confidentiality was lifted on September 10 by André Mendonça, a justice of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), as reported by João Pedro Pitombo of the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo on Thursday (17).
The entities are Asteba and Asseba, which according to Jornal de Brasília represent health workers and technical-administrative staff of the state administration. They are tied to businessman Augusto Ferreira Lima, owner of Banco Pleno and a former partner of Daniel Vorcaro at Banco Master. Police searched both in the first phase of Operation Compliance Zero, in November 2025. Lima, who is under investigation and has not been convicted, was arrested at the time, released in late November and now wears an electronic ankle monitor.
How the associations entered the case
Master told the Central Bank, in an official letter dated March 25, 2025, that the two associations originated the payroll-deducted loans in a R$ 6.7 billion portfolio sold to BRB, the public bank of Brasília. Vorcaro's bank later reversed course and attributed the credits to a company called Tirreno, according to Folha. A passage of the inquest quoted by Banda B says the entities, "controlled by Augusto Lima", were named by Master to the Central Bank as originators of the credits sold.
Federal Police investigators attribute to Lima the creation of fraudulent portfolios. An audit estimated the public bank's losses from buying these assets at least R$ 5 billion. On a larger scale, a Federal Police report cited by Jornal do Comércio puts total BRB transfers to Master in credit portfolio purchases at about R$ 17 billion.
Defense, Bahia government and next steps
Lima's lawyers reject the allegations and say they do not hold up against the evidence gathered in the inquiry; they also argue the information on the origin of the credits was wrongly given to the Central Bank by Master itself. In a June statement to Poder360, signed by lawyers Pedro Ivo Velloso, Eduardo Toledo and Sebastián Mello, the defense said Lima "has always acted within the limits of the law, with transparency, technical responsibility and observance of the norms that govern the financial system and public administration". Contacted by Folha, the associations did not comment: at Asteba, an employee said no board members were present and messages were not returned; at Asseba, no one answered the calls. Bahia's Administration Secretariat, under Governor Jerônimo Rodrigues of the Workers' Party (PT), said it would not comment on the cooperation agreements with the associations, which provide member services such as dental plans, cellphone purchases and legal assistance.
Banco Master was liquidated by the Central Bank after Compliance Zero began. The operation was launched in November 2025 by a federal court in Brasília; Vorcaro was arrested on November 17 as he tried to leave Brazil and was released on November 29. The case moved to the Supreme Court in December 2025 and has been with Justice Mendonça since February. Vorcaro was rearrested in early March and has filed a plea-bargain proposal that remains under review. In June, the operation's ninth phase cited Lima in a probe into ties between Master executives and Senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA). The inquest remains open, and according to Gazeta do Povo, Vorcaro's defense asked again on September 11 to postpone his deposition to the Federal Police about the BRB deals; no new date has been announced.