Senator Jaques Wagner of the Workers' Party (PT-BA), a former floor leader for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government in the Senate, refused to give the Federal Police the passwords of two cell phones seized during a search of his home in Salvador on June 18. The detail is in a police report made public on Friday (11), after Justice André Mendonça of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Brazil's top court, widened the release of sealed records from the Banco Master case at the request of the Attorney General's Office (PGR). Wagner is under investigation, has not been charged, and under the Constitution is presumed innocent until a final conviction.
According to the report of the search, which CNN Brasil gained access to, officers collected a black Samsung phone and a white device at the start of the search. "The person under investigation refused to provide the passwords of the devices," the police wrote. During the same operation, officers seized R$ 16,500 in cash, plus US$ 16,795 and € 39,675, along with luxury watches. Part of the money was found in a suitcase attributed to the senator and part in a safe in his wife's closet. The report says Wagner told officers the cash was used for travel and the watches had been bought over the years, but he produced no receipts. The value of the watches "can only be precisely determined after the appropriate expert examinations," the police wrote.
What Operation Compliance Zero investigates
The search was part of the ninth phase of Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates suspected corruption, money laundering and financial crimes involving Banco Master and its former controlling shareholder Daniel Vorcaro, who is jailed. In Wagner's case, the Federal Police is examining his relationship with banker Augusto Ferreira Lima, Vorcaro's former partner, and whether the senator received improper benefits from businessmen and structures tied to the bank. The episodes under investigation include trips on private jets, concert tickets and the negotiation of an apartment worth R$ 2.45 million in Salvador. BBC News Brasil notes it is unclear whether the property was actually purchased, or by whom.
The report cites "robust indications" of active and passive bribery and money laundering in the senator's exchanges, according to the BBC. Between November 17, 2023 and May 25, 2025, investigators counted 74 phone calls between Wagner and Lima, totaling 5 hours and 30 minutes. On the relationship between the two, the police wrote:
"Beyond a possible friendship, the relationship between the two, as can be inferred from the exchanges, appears to be one-way: as a rule, the Senator receives or requests advantages or favors, and the businessman grants them."
The report also says Wagner worked in the Senate for amendment 11 to PEC 65/2023, the so-called "Master Amendment," which would have raised the cap on deposits protected by the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC). In August 2024, the senator allegedly wrote to Lima: "Let's meet, I needed to talk to you to know how things are at the bank." The document records no direct contact between the senator and Vorcaro, but states there was "at least some degree of dialogue."
Positions and next steps
CNN Brasil said it sought comment from Wagner's lawyers and received no reply by publication time; BBC News Brasil said it was still seeking a statement from his office. A longtime ally of Lula, Wagner stepped down as the government's Senate leader after becoming a target of the investigation and is running for reelection in October with the president's backing. In a TV Globo interview in late August, Lula defended him: "I am certain that Wagner is honest... until proven otherwise, everyone is innocent."
Procedurally, expert examinations must still establish the value of the seized watches. The inquiry is at the STF, where court president Edson Fachin on Saturday (12) ordered the Master and INSS investigations transferred to the court's presidency. According to G1, the cases remain on hold until Fachin decides whether to take over their handling himself or refer the question to the full court.