Brazil Supreme Court’s Toffoli steps aside from Banco Master case

By Ricardo Brito

BRASILIA, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli has decided to step aside from overseeing the Banco Master investigation, according to a statement from the court on Thursday, as scrutiny grows over his links to the lender’s controlling shareholder.

A statement, signed by all the court’s justices, including Toffoli, said the case files would be transferred to a new judge. Later on Thursday, the Supreme Court website showed that Andre Mendonca had been assigned to the case.

The decision came hours after Toffoli said he had never received any payments and had never had any relationship with Master’s controlling shareholder, Daniel Vorcaro. 

Brazil’s Federal Police had sent a report to the top court’s president 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.

SUPREME COURT SUPPORT

In Thursday’s statement, Toffoli’s Supreme Court colleagues affirmed the full validity of the judge’s behavior throughout the investigation, adding they “personally support” him and respect his dignity.

They also denied there was an impediment for Toffoli to continue overseeing the case. Toffoli’s statement earlier on Thursday had also suggested there was no reason for him to step aside from the case.

“At the request of Justice Dias Toffoli… the Supreme Court Presidency accepts his communication regarding the referral of the respective cases under his rapporteurship,” they said.

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.

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

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Isabel Teles and Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Louise Heavens, Mark Potter and Lincoln Feast.)