Secret Federal Police report links judge Alexandre de Moraes to banker arrested for corruption in Brazil
A confidential report by the Federal Police links STF judge Alexandre de Moraes to banker Daniel Vorcaro, generating a crisis in Brazil's Supreme Federal Court.
STF Crisis: Federal Police document points to links between Moraes and detained banker
The disclosure of a confidential Federal Police (PF) report linking judge Alexandre de Moraes to a banker arrested for corruption triggered an unprecedented crisis on Tuesday at Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), reports Correio da Manhã. The 218-page document was made public by judge André Mendonça, the case's rapporteur at the STF, after he felt threatened by internal and external pressure to halt the investigations.
The report reproduces messages exchanged between Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master — which was liquidated by the Central Bank in late last year — and judge Alexandre de Moraes, known for the severity of his rulings, notably the one that condemned former president Jair Bolsonaro and other defendants for attempted coup d'état. The messages, which leave no trace and disappear after being viewed, were recovered by the PF and reveal that Vorcaro consulted with the magistrate on decisions relating to his illicit business dealings.
In the recovered communications, the banker arranged with Moraes ways to evade the authorities' net and even consulted the judge about a possible escape plan from Brazil when the investigations came dangerously close to him.
Million-euro contracts and an aircraft as payment
The proximity between the two was already known, but the PF report adds new data. The judge's wife, lawyer Viviane Barci de Moraes, was hired by Vorcaro to defend him in a case that could be tried by the STF for €22.2 million — a sum considered excessive by other law firms in Brasília.
Moraes had until now denied any involvement, claiming that the contract was with his wife's firm and had nothing to do with him. However, the PF document states that it was the magistrate himself who reviewed and edited that contract, as well as a second contract, previously unknown, worth a further €8.4 million, paid in part with an aircraft and a helicopter.
Messages confirmed by the Federal Police
The messages had been partially known for months, and it was suspected that they had been sent to Moraes. The magistrate had systematically denied, in terse statements, that the recipient phone was his. The development that shook Brazil's political and legal scene is that the PF has officially confirmed, at André Mendonça's request, that the recipient of the messages was indeed Alexandre de Moraes.
Mendonça makes the report public for protection
On Monday, after receiving the PF report during the weekend, André Mendonça informed the president of the STF, Edson Fachim, and Alexandre de Moraes himself that he would request the opening of a formal investigation against his colleague. According to witnesses, Mendonça was confronted very aggressively by Moraes — whose combativeness is widely recognised in legal circles. Feeling at elevated risk, the rapporteur judge opted to make the report public as a form of protection and to prevent the case from being shelved.
The disclosure of the document occurs in the midst of the campaign for Brazil's presidential elections next month, amplifying the political impact of the crisis at the country's highest court.
Source: Correio da Manhã