Daniel Vorcaro, the Banco Master banker jailed since March in an investigation into suspected fraud at the bank, told the office of Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça that he suffered psychological torture, mistreatment and veiled threats in prison to keep him from reporting facts involving the Federal Police in a possible plea deal. The account was reported by columnist Mônica Bergamo of Folha de S.Paulo. The testimony was taken last week by an auxiliary judge and recorded on video, with a federal prosecutor present and no Federal Police agents.

In the deposition, Vorcaro named Federal Police director-general Andrei Rodrigues. According to Folha's reporting, the banker said the force had no interest in hearing him because it wanted to prevent facts involving the agency from surfacing. In his view, the alleged intimidation was among the reasons the Federal Police never accepted the plea deal he has tried to negotiate since his arrest. Associates of Rodrigues denied to the newspaper any close relationship with Vorcaro and said the two met only once, by chance, in London, at a legal seminar organized by the Voto group, an event sponsored by Banco Master without that link being disclosed at the time.

Officers heard by Folha also said Vorcaro could have gone directly to the federal prosecutors' office (PGR) to try to formalize a plea deal without the Federal Police. The hearing took place in the office of Mendonça, who oversees the Banco Master investigation at the STF, Brazil's top court. The contents of the deposition remain under seal.

What Mendonça's office says

On Wednesday, Mendonça's office confirmed the hearing, which according to G1 was first revealed by the newspaper O Globo, and said in a statement that it took place at the express request of the defense. The statement says the presence of a prosecutor is a legal requirement that was met, and that the absence of Federal Police agents followed rules of the CNJ, the council that oversees Brazil's judiciary, which require the police team running an investigation to be kept away when a deponent reports intimidation. The office said the measure protected the witness and was not a choice of convenience by the minister's staff. It also said the relationship between Vorcaro and Justice Alexandre de Moraes was not mentioned in the testimony.

"The testimony was carried out at the express request of the deponent's defense, which reported that he was suffering serious intimidation and asked to be heard urgently. It is a regular procedural act, conducted by an auxiliary judge," the statement reads.

Timeline of the case

• March 2025: Mendonça meets Vorcaro once, to discuss a case on precatórios, court-ordered debt payments pending at the STF, according to his office.
• February 2026: Mendonça becomes the justice in charge of the Master case at the court.
• March 2026: Vorcaro is arrested in the investigation into suspected fraud at Banco Master.
• Tuesday, Sept. 1: a Federal Police report becomes public showing messages from Vorcaro to a number attributed to Moraes, with offers of contracts worth millions and a trip to London, and eight meetings between the two.
• Wednesday, Sept. 2: Mendonça's office confirms the urgent testimony and Folha reveals what Vorcaro said in it.

Supreme Court President Edson Fachin said he will examine the facts and promised to announce measures in the coming days. The PGR has asked for the investigation opened by Mendonça into the messages to be voided, but, according to G1, the justice intends to press for the full court to examine the case anyway.