The Banco Master scandal has reached another justice of Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF). Messages taken from the phone of Daniel Vorcaro, the bank's owner, record his contact with people tied to Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, according to a Federal Police investigation reported on Thursday (24) by O Assunto, a daily podcast from news site g1. Investigators identified conversations between Vorcaro and appeals judge Newton Ramos, of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region, and his wife, lawyer Camilla Ramos.
Investigators concluded the couple formed what Vorcaro's aides called the "KN group", a reference to the justice's name, according to the Federal Police. The group asked Vorcaro for benefits such as event tickets and hotel stays. Camilla is a partner at Queiroga, Vieira, Queiroz & Ramos Advocacia, a law firm Vorcaro hired to handle lawsuits over precatórios, the court-ordered debt payments Brazilian governments owe to creditors. The cases totaled 8.5 billion reais and success fees could reach 427 million reais, g1 reported. Metrópoles, a news site that obtained the contract, detailed the terms: net fees of 5% of whatever the bank recovered in 12 cases that discuss compensation tied to price controls by the former Sugar and Alcohol Institute (IAA).
Fasano hotel, Formula 1 and a Supreme Court vote
In the conversations, Newton passed on to Vorcaro requests attributed to the justice. "Ministro Kassio me pediu para ver se vocês conseguem para ele uma tarifa promocional no Fasano. Só uma diária. Entrando sexta e saindo sábado. Recebi essa mensagem do Newton. OK para você?", reads one message quoted by Metrópoles, asking whether Vorcaro can get the justice a promotional rate for one night at the Fasano hotel. Vorcaro authorized the expense: "Pode botar na minha conta", or "put it on my account". Beyond hotel nights, the exchanges record Formula 1 tickets, access to events at the Rosewood hotel and a box at the Sambadrome, Metrópoles reported.
Camilla celebrated Nunes Marques's vote in the precatórios judgment by the Second Panel, one of the STF's two five-justice panels, in a message to Vorcaro. "É um excelente voto do Min. Nunes Marques", she wrote, calling it an excellent opinion that distinguished the cases in which the court order set the compensation criteria. Metrópoles reported that Nunes Marques, Edson Fachin and Dias Toffoli voted to recognize the debt, while Gilmar Mendes and André Mendonça were outvoted. The site also noted that Nunes Marques had declared himself recused in the case and later reversed course.
The justice's son and his denial
Another thread of the investigation reaches the justice's family. The Federal Police found messages between Vorcaro and Luiz Rennó, Banco Master's former legal director, in which they discuss supposed payments whose recipient would be Kevin Marques, Kassio's son. Rennó refers to "500 mil mês", or 500,000 reais a month, and says he is "dominado", or dominated, with regard to Kevin, g1 reported. In a statement, Nunes Marques denied any ties. He said he never exchanged messages with Vorcaro, never asked him for anything and never authorized anyone to speak on his behalf.
The messages are part of the file the Federal Police sent in July to the office of Justice André Mendonça, the Master case's rapporteur at the STF. Justices Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino and Gilmar Mendes demanded access to the full material, amid suspicion that Mendonça had focused his review on Alexandre de Moraes, another justice; Mendonça denies any steering. Their demand remains pending before the court.