Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master, hired businessman Francisco Feitosa, known as Chiquinho, in 2024. Feitosa is a former brother-in-law of Justice Gilmar Mendes of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF). Messages seized by the Federal Police indicate a fee of R$ 500,000 a month (500,000 reais), negotiated in September 2024, plus an extra R$ 800,000 in the first payment. During that period Gilmar was the reporting justice on cases about opening new medical schools, and Chiquinho handled the banker's interests tied to private universities.
The reports were published by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo early on Friday (18) and by Estadão on Thursday night (17). According to Folha, exchanges between Vorcaro and a phone number attributed to Chiquinho run from April 2024 to June 2025. Estadão reports that conversations pulled from the banker's phone by the Federal Police cover April 15 to November 13, 2024, and record payments for advisory work. At the time, Chiquinho was still the justice's brother-in-law: his sister, lawyer Guiomar Feitosa, was married to Gilmar until their divorce in November 2025.
Medical schools and court-ordered debts on the agenda
Estadão reports that Chiquinho discussed with Vorcaro two cases then before the court. One involved precatórios, court-ordered government debts, of the Usina Agroindustrial Tabu, a sugar mill in Paraíba state, which had been bought by Master funds. The other, reported by Gilmar, set rules for opening medical school seats, a field in which the bank was at the time a partner in and financier of a university through one of its funds. In both cases, according to the paper, the justice voted against Master's interests.
Reached for comment, Gilmar denied any involvement and said in a note to Estadão:
"The Justice had no knowledge of any dealings between him and Daniel Vorcaro, was not approached by him on the matters mentioned, and is not responsible for the private or professional relations of a former relative."
His office told Folha that the justice never discussed Education Ministry matters with Vorcaro or Chiquinho and that his vote in the case on new courses favored the government, not the universities. Gilmar acknowledged receiving Master's lawyers at an audience at the court and stressed that the meeting took place "at the court's headquarters, in an institutional setting, not in a private space".
A contract admitted for a "short period"
Chiquinho, a former congressman and senator for Ceará, first denied having worked for Vorcaro. Confronted by Estadão's reporters with the contract, he admitted providing services for a "short period" and said the hiring company, Super Empreendimentos, was seen as reputable and "operated in several segments". "I was not hired to promote or broker a meeting between any people, much less Justice Gilmar Mendes", he said. According to Folha, he said he arranged, at Vorcaro's request, a meeting with his sister, Guiomar. "He was supposed to bring her case numbers, which never happened."
Folha reports that the Federal Police is investigating Super Empreendimentos as an alleged channel for Vorcaro's payments to a private militia and to public officials. Estadão notes that police describe the company as an instrument of money laundering and asset concealment. Chiquinho did not disclose the amounts or the services provided. The exchanges are part of the material from Vorcaro's phone seized in the inquiry, which remains open at the Federal Police.