Brazil Supreme Court’s Toffoli denies receiving payments, links to Banco Master’s Vorcaro

By Ricardo Brito

BRASILIA, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli said on Thursday he has never received any payments and has never had any relationship with Banco Master’s controlling shareholder Daniel Vorcaro. 

The statement came after the head of Brazil’s Federal Police sent a report to Supreme Court President Edson Fachin citing references to Toffoli in data extracted from Vorcaro’s mobile phone, which was obtained through a court-ordered search, according to a source familiar with the report.

Toffoli is overseeing the Banco Master investigation, and his handling of the case has drawn scrutiny inside and outside the court.

Banco Master, which held under 1% of Brazil’s banking assets, was liquidated in November amid what the central bank called a severe liquidity crisis, sharp financial deterioration and serious rule violations.

A second source familiar with the police report said it runs 180 pages and includes mentions of alleged payments to a company linked to Toffoli, as well as invitations to social events.

A third source said the full report had been sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which will decide whether to take further action.

The police did not request Toffoli’s recusal but said there were elements in the report that required further scrutiny, the first source said.

Toffoli’s statement, however, suggests there is no reason for him to step aside from the Banco Master case.

“The Justice … never had any friendly relationship, much less a close friendship, with the investigated Daniel Vorcaro. Finally, the Justice clarifies that he has never received any money from Daniel Vorcaro or his brother-in-law Fabiano Zettel,” it said.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Isabel Teles; Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)