The Brazilian Federal Police claims, in reports sent to the Supreme Federal Court (STF), that former banker Daniel Vorcaro paid for international trips and dinners enjoyed by two officials of the Central Bank, Brazil's monetary authority and bank regulator, who were removed from their posts on suspicion of favoring Banco Master. According to Folha de S.Paulo, which gained access to the files after the court lifted a secrecy order on Thursday night (10), Vorcaro would have covered part of a trip to Paris by Belline Santana, former head of Banking Supervision, and his wife, as well as expenses from a trip by Paulo Sérgio Neves de Souza, former director of supervision, to Disney in the United States.

On the Paris leg, the police report says Vorcaro arranged the couple's itinerary and kept direct contact with service providers abroad:

"He dealt directly with service providers abroad about restaurant reservations, reception and logistics, going as far as passing along the official's personal contact so the schedule could be finalized"

In messages cited in the document, the former banker instructed that a dinner be organized at the restaurant Lapérouse and a lunch at Loulou. For the police, his instruction to order good wine and food suggests the bills were meant to be his. The report notes that Belline and his wife traveled to Paris during the period covered by the messages, but lists no other expenses and no amounts.

In testimony to the Federal Police on August 24, heard as a witness, businessman Leo Serrano, owner of the travel agency Signature Luxury, said Vorcaro paid US$ 38,000 for a "VIP guide" who accompanied Paulo Sérgio through the Disney and Universal parks in Orlando in January 2024. According to Valor Econômico, which obtained the full testimony, the agency covered the cost and later sent the invoice to Vorcaro. On Belline, Serrano said no reservation requested for the 2025 Paris trip was ever paid or carried out.

Both officials' lawyers deny any wrongdoing. Paulo Sérgio's defense, in a statement by lawyer Odel Antun, says he has documents proving he paid for the entire family trip himself and only accepted, on boarding day, a slot in a priority park-access package offered by Vorcaro, paying US$ 8,000 in cash through a person indicated by the former banker. Belline's defense, signed by lawyer Leonardo Palazzi, maintains that no "tourism, logistics or concierge service" was provided to him and criticized the leak of the testimony. Folha reported that the lawyers did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

How the case reached the Supreme Court

Belline and Paulo Sérgio were removed from the Central Bank and are under investigation on suspicion of taking bribes to favor Master's interests while they supervised Vorcaro's bank, which has since been shut down. The probe is part of Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates an alleged scheme of financial fraud and money laundering tied to Master, and it reached the STF because it involves accusations against members of Congress and Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

• September 1: the case's reporting justice, André Mendonça, lifts the secrecy on a Federal Police report with indications that Vorcaro sought advice from and exchanged information with Moraes.
• September 3: Moraes releases police intelligence reports on alleged irregular conduct by Mendonça.
• September 9: STF President Edson Fachin removes Moraes from the Fake News inquiry and schedules a full-court session for September 15.
• September 10: at Fachin's request, Mendonça lifts the secrecy on Petition 15.556, the original core of the operation, and other related proceedings.

The next step is set for Tuesday (15), when the full court examines the police report that identifies Moraes as one of Vorcaro's interlocutors and a request by the Prosecutor General's office (PGR) to void the document. No one has been convicted, and everyone named in the case is presumed innocent.