The president of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF), Edson Fachin, asked fellow minister André Mendonça on Thursday evening to lift the secrecy on a significant portion of the investigations into Banco Master. Fachin wants Mendonça to exempt cases that require secrecy for ongoing police work. The JOTA news agency reported that Mendonça intends to comply with the request as presented by the court president.
Document transfer and the upcoming session
Fachin is also asking Mendonça to send a copy of the case files on a hard drive to the STF presidency and the offices of the other ministers. This move is linked to an extraordinary session scheduled for next Tuesday. During this session, the ministers must decide whether to open an investigation into the relationship between STF minister Alexandre de Moraes and Daniel Vorcaro.
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Vorcaro is the former banker currently detained for fraud at Banco Master. The request specifically targets PET 15,556, the document that ordered Vorcaro’s arrest and which led to Moraes’s name being brought up during the probe. The hard drive transfer requested by Fachin aims to centralize control over the documents and ensure the upcoming session proceeds with a clear view of the evidence.
The origins of the fraud case
The Banco Master investigation began in 2025 over suspicions of accounting fraud and an unsustainable capital-raising model. The bank, controlled by the Minas Gerais businessman Daniel Vorcaro, had connections with at least 18 public servant pension funds. On November 18, 2025, the Federal Police arrested Vorcaro at Guarulhos International Airport while he attempted to leave the country. The arrest happened one day after a financial holding announced it would purchase the bank. The bank’s model of raising capital was scrutinized for its sustainability, raising alarms among regulators regarding the stability of the financial institution’s operations.
Ministerial disputes and police findings
During the probe, the Federal Police uncovered connections between Vorcaro and various authorities, including STF ministers. The investigation fell under the purview of Justice Dias Toffoli until the crisis forced him to step down. A lottery then assigned the case to André Mendonça. The situation escalated when a police report, commissioned by Mendonça, revealed that Moraes had exchanged messages with Vorcaro and met with the detained banker. Mendonça used these findings to ask Fachin to investigate his colleague. The police report served as the catalyst for the escalating tensions, providing the specific evidence necessary to question the impartiality of the Supreme Court’s members.
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Retaliation and the court’s response
In response to Mendonça’s request, the Attorney General, Paulo Gonet, argued that the investigation was void because the full court had not been consulted, a requirement of the law. Moraes then filed a counter-request to open an inquiry against Mendonça, citing strong indications of administrative improbity, abuse of authority, and responsibility crimes related to judicial impartiality and political favoritism.
The political pressure and a “war of injunctions” between ministers led Fachin to take a series of measures to try to stabilize the crisis on Wednesday. These included removing Moraes from the fake news inquiry and suspending the injunctions granted by Mendonça and Justice Flávio Dino. The Attorney General’s intervention was based on strict procedural adherence, emphasizing that the full collegiate body must validate such serious accusations against a sitting minister.
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The situation reflects a common difficulty in high-stakes judicial crises where the public and political actors demand transparency to counter selective leaks. When investigations involve powerful figures and sensitive political topics, the balance between necessary judicial secrecy and public oversight becomes a constant source of conflict. The tension is often amplified by the speed of information flow, which can outpace the court’s internal mechanisms for managing reputation and procedural integrity. This dynamic creates a volatile environment where procedural technicalities are viewed by the public and the executive branch as attempts to shield corruption rather than uphold justice.
Next steps for the court
Fachin has scheduled the judgment on the request to investigate Moraes for September 15. The focus will be on the messages exchanged with Vorcaro and the alleged meetings. The court’s handling of the Banco Master case has already impacted the judiciary, with one minister removed from a case and another facing a formal inquiry. The hard drive transfer requested by Fachin aims to centralize control over the documents and ensure the upcoming session proceeds with a clear view of the evidence. The centralization of these documents on a physical medium is intended to prevent further unauthorized leaks that could destabilize the judicial branch during a critical period.