Banco Master scandal divides Brazil's Supreme Court ahead of elections
A deep institutional crisis has erupted in Brazil with an open clash between two top judges just weeks before October's presidential elections.
Brazil: judicial "civil war" and electoral uncertainty in the shadow of Banco Master
A deep institutional crisis has erupted in Brazil just weeks before October's presidential elections, following a public clash between two top judges of the Supreme Court. According to newsbeast.gr, the backdrop to the crisis is the massive scandal surrounding the collapse of Banco Master, worth 10 billion dollars.
At the centre stands judge Alexandre de Moraes, one of the most powerful and controversial figures in Brazilian justice — known for the conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro. New evidence has reportedly revealed contacts between him and Daniel Vorhauer, owner of Banco Master and a central figure in the case of the bankrupt bank.
Declassified police report and the disputed messages
On 1 September, judge André Mendonça declassified a police report according to which Vorhauer had sent messages to de Moraes seeking help shortly before his arrest in November. In these messages, according to what has been made public, Vorhauer is said to have asked whether he should leave Brazil and sought intervention from the attorney general and the head of the federal police. The same report mentions multiple meetings between the two men.
The digital forensics team found no replies from de Moraes to the messages in question. Two days after these messages, Vorhauer was arrested at São Paulo airport as he attempted to board a private aircraft bound for Dubai.
De Moraes counterattacks, Mendonça remains silent
De Moraes responded by calling for an investigation into his colleague Mendonça for abuse of power and misconduct, arguing that the latter acted against certain individuals "for personal and political reasons". Mendonça, former justice minister under Bolsonaro and appointed to the Supreme Court by him, has not publicly responded to the allegations.
The open confrontation has led the Supreme Court into one of the gravest internal crises in its history.
Additional pressure on de Moraes: his wife's contract
Pressure on de Moraes had already increased before the disputed messages were made public. The judge has found himself at the centre of questions regarding a contract worth approximately 130 million reais between Banco Master and his wife's law firm, an accusation which he has categorically denied.
Investigators believe that Vorhauer had created an extensive influence network that reached Congress, the judiciary and the executive branch. So far, no formal charges have been brought against him, and he denies any wrongdoing.
Electoral dimension: Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro
The crisis takes on even greater political significance as it erupts just weeks before the presidential elections, with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro appearing roughly tied in opinion polls.
Lula, while not accused in the Banco Master case, finds himself in a difficult position: corruption is a longstanding sensitive issue for him, given that he was previously imprisoned on related charges before his convictions were annulled. The 45-year-old Flávio Bolsonaro is attempting to exploit the crisis politically, demanding the removal of de Moraes. "A vote for Lula is a vote for de Moraes," he stated characteristically to his supporters.
The case, however, does not leave Flávio Bolsonaro himself unaffected. In May it became known that he had secured funding of several million dollars from Vorhauer for film production related to his father — something he describes as private sponsorship with no element of wrongdoing.
Polarised reactions, analysts on alert
The Right, which has for years accused de Moraes of political bias, appears strengthened. The Left, by contrast, accuses Mendonça of using the investigation to benefit Flávio Bolsonaro.
Political scientist Leandro Consentino estimates that "this is a scandal of enormous proportions, creating an institutional crisis extremely dangerous for Brazilian democracy". Constitutional law professor Elóisa Matsuda warns: "This crisis affects the functioning of the democratic rule of law. It is a point of no return".
Banco Master has now ceased to be merely a banking scandal: it has transformed into a crisis affecting simultaneously the Supreme Court, the credibility of institutions and the very outcome of the presidential elections.
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)