Brazil Supreme Court authorizes freezing of investor Nelson Tanure’s assets

SAO PAULO, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli has allowed a prosecutor’s request for banks to freeze assets belonging to Brazilian entrepreneur Nelson Tanure due to an investigation into lender Banco Master, according to a document made public last Friday. 

The request was made by the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office. The mid-sized bank was liquidated by the central bank last November.

Investigators allege that Tanure has been a “hidden partner” of Master, an accusation the businessman has disputed, saying he has owned a stake in the lender directly or through financial instruments. 

In a statement released on Monday, Tanure’s lawyer Pablo Naves Testoni reaffirmed the investor’s stance, saying he has never made a transaction that could back up such an allegation.

Brazil’s central bank ordered Master to be liquidated citing “severe liquidity crisis”, a serious deterioration in its financial condition and violations of financial system rules.

While Master holds less than 1% of banking assets in Latin America’s largest economy, its collapse has led to scrutiny as the bank grew very fast by issuing high-yield debt marketed as covered by Brazil’s private deposit guarantee fund, known as FGC. 

(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes and Ricardo Brito; Editing by David Gregorio)