Daniel Vorcaro, the former owner of Banco Master, spent at least R$ 60 million on lavish events for Brazilian officials in London, New York, and Lisbon, according to documents reported by Folha de S.Paulo. The revelations deepen a financial scandal that illustrates systemic vulnerabilities in Brazilian governance and regulatory oversight.
The guest lists for these luxury gatherings read like a who's who of Brazilian power: ministers from the Supreme Court and other high courts, senators, officials from the Attorney General's Office, Federal Police, and even the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade). In Brazil, as across Latin America's giant, continental scale creates both opportunity and governance challenges—and this case shows how financial crime can penetrate the highest levels of the republic.
Most controversially, the investigation uncovered that Master paid R$ 27 million to Metrópoles, a major Brazilian news portal, which immediately transferred the money to companies owned by the family of Luiz Estevão, the media outlet's founder. Estevão, a former senator from the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), was convicted and imprisoned in the early 2000s for embezzling public funds intended for construction of the Brasília courthouse—one of Brazil's most notorious corruption cases of that era.
Estado de São Paulo reported that the payments to Metrópoles raise questions about whether Master was purchasing favorable media coverage or legitimate sponsorship. The immediate transfer of funds to Estevão family companies suggests a level of coordination that goes beyond standard advertising relationships.
