In a swift political counter-attack, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, a presidential pre-candidate, has publicly demanded the formation of a CPI, a parliamentary commission of inquiry, to investigate Banco Master. His move came just hours after the Federal Police executed a search and seizure operation at the home of Senator Ciro Nogueira, a key Bolsonaro family ally.
The police action was part of the broader "Compliance Zero" operation, which is probing financial crimes and corruption allegedly linked to Banco Master's owner, Daniel Vorcaro. The raid revealed that Senator Nogueira had been receiving a monthly allowance of up to R$500,000 from Vorcaro, along with luxury hotel stays and expensive meals.
In a video posted online, Flávio Bolsonaro framed the issue as a matter of public transparency. He argued that the Brazilian people deserve to know the full truth about the bank's rapid growth, who was behind it, who benefited, and what connections exist between Banco Master and the top leadership of the PT party, both nationally and in the state of Bahia.
The senator's video highlighted a report suggesting that PT-led governments in Bahia were the "political cradle" for Banco Master. This narrative attempts to shift the focus from the investigation of his ally to an alleged institutional link between the bank and the ruling party.
While the push for a CPI has been gaining traction since April, with formal requests filed in the Chamber of Deputies, the commission has not yet been established. The possibility of creating a mixed CPI, involving both deputies and senators, remains on the table. Notably, the president of the PT party himself, Edinho Silva, recently admitted that his party made a mistake by not leading the charge for this very inquiry.
The connection to Bahia's PT governments is based on federal tax data. These administrations, under governors Rui Costa and Jaques Wagner, reportedly enabled Banco Master to enter the consigned credit market through specific state programs and the privatization of a state food company in 2018.
Meanwhile, political opponents on the left are using the police operation against Nogueira to attack Flávio Bolsonaro directly. They are circulating a past interview where Flávio praised Nogueira as having all the credentials to be a vice-presidential candidate, citing his loyalty to former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Based on reporting from g1.