Messages extracted by Brazil's Federal Police from the phone of Daniel Vorcaro, the owner of Banco Master who is under investigation in the bank's scandal, show that Otto Lobo, president of the securities regulator CVM, allegedly nicknamed the businessman "little lion of the mountain" while seeking support to remain at the head of the agency. In other exchanges, Vorcaro described himself as "number 1" of Chamber of Deputies Speaker Hugo Motta. The conversations were reported on Monday (21) by the newspaper O Globo and detailed by Valor Econômico, which said it had access to the police material.

In an audio message sent to Vorcaro on July 19, 2025, lawyer Ciro Soares said that Lobo, who was then running the CVM on an interim basis, had asked for help reaching Senator Otto Alencar because he wanted to keep the presidency of the agency. According to Soares, Lobo coined the nickname when talking about the banker.

"Otto Lobo from the CVM is asking me for help to speak with Senator Otto (Alencar). (...) He even told me he calls you 'little lion of the mountain'. I said: 'I liked the nickname, you know'. And he said: 'Yes, the little lion of the mountain, the kid is sharp, a hard worker'"

Vorcaro replied: "Great. He has to be put in the presidency". In the messages that follow, Soares says he would take Lobo to the Senate and to Senator Jaques Wagner of the Workers' Party (PT) to "work for this guy to stay". "Let's make it happen. I'll talk to my people", Vorcaro answered. Soares added: "You push from one side, I'll push from the other".

In a statement, Lobo said he "has no knowledge of, nor any involvement in, private conversations of third parties" and that he "never had relations with, nor sought support from, Daniel Vorcaro". He noted that the Senate confirmed him on May 20, 2026, two months after the CVM created a task force on Banco Master, and that the agency has already imposed fines of about 200 million reais in the case, 20 million of them on Vorcaro. Lobo also defended his tie-breaking vote in the Ambipar share offer, a ruling he said the federal audit court TCU upheld in two separate proceedings. The office of Senator Jaques Wagner denied that the reported conversation ever took place and said the senator has no ties to Vorcaro and never acted in the bank's interest. Valor said it contacted the others named and had received no reply by publication time.

Vorcaro called himself Motta's "number 1"

In a February 2, 2025 exchange with Master's then legal director Luiz Rennó, Vorcaro said he was in Brasília "with Davi and Hugo", a reference to Senate President Davi Alcolumbre and to Motta. Asked whether he got along with the congressman, he replied: "Do I get along with him? Hahaha. I'm 'number 1'. Friend, brother". The message came one day after Motta was elected speaker of the lower house in a first-round vote of 444, backed by 17 parties. Contacted through his office, Motta had not commented by publication time.

According to the police findings cited by O Globo, Vorcaro paid for hotel suites in Lisbon in 2024 for Motta and for Senator Ciro Nogueira, whom police suspect received undue advantages for backing the bank in Congress. Motta said at the time that he saw no problem with the payment of the hotel nights because the event was "corporate and legal" in nature. The speaker was also among the authorities at a whisky and cigar tasting hosted by Vorcaro at the Carnegie Club in New York on May 14, 2024, which ran up a bill of US$ 1,023,646, about R$ 5.26 million at the conversion rate used by the police.

Timeline of the case

• March 2024: Motta's sister-in-law Bianca Medeiros takes a loan of at least R$ 22 million from Master to buy land in João Pessoa, according to Folha de S.Paulo.
• May 2024: Motta attends the Carnegie Club tasting in New York, with a bill of US$ 1,023,646.
• 2024: the Federal Police finds Vorcaro paid for hotel stays of Motta and Ciro Nogueira in Lisbon.
• February 1, 2025: Motta is elected Chamber speaker with 444 votes; the next day Vorcaro calls himself the congressman's "number 1" in a message.
• July 19, 2025: in the audio to Vorcaro, Ciro Soares says Otto Lobo wants support to stay as CVM president and cites the "little lion of the mountain" nickname.
• March 2026: the CVM creates a task force on Banco Master; on May 20 the Senate confirms Lobo as president, and he is sworn in in June.
• September 21, 2026: O Globo and Valor publish the messages the Federal Police extracted from Vorcaro's phone.

No date is set for the next steps. According to Lobo's statement, other complaints involving Banco Master are under review by the CVM's technical staff and will be examined by the agency's board in the future. The newly disclosed messages are part of the material the Federal Police extracted from Vorcaro's phone in the Master investigation. O Globo said it keeps space open for Motta to respond to the dialogues.