Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has filed a formal petition asking the tribunal to investigate his colleague André Mendonça for abuse of authority.
The Banco Master Investigations and Leaked Police Communications
The institutional crisis paralyzing Brazil’s highest court centers on the collapse of Banco Master, an institution liquidated extrajudicialfully by the Central Bank in November 2025. Authorities dismantled the entity following the discovery of irregularites and a large-scale fraud scheme. Former owner Daniel Vorcaro faced initial arrest in November 2025 while attempting to flee the country in a private aircraft, and subsequently returned to preventive detention in March 2026.
The investigation widened significantly after the Federal Police (PF) examined Vorcaro’s seized mobile phone. Investigators uncovered communications with business figures, legal professionals, and public officials.
Among the records examined is a service agreement valued at 131 million reais—approximately 25.5 million dollars—contracted between Banco Master and the legal practice of Viviane Barci de Moraes, wife of Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Police investigation indicates that Moraes would have intervened in the modification of the document.
Clash Between Supreme Court Justices Mendonça and Moraes
The friction inside the Supreme Tribunal Federal intensified when Justice André Mendonça—appointed to the court in 2021 by former president Jair Bolsonaro and formerly serving as his justice minister—lifted judicial confidentiality on the police dossier. Mendonça’s order brought the contents of Vorcaro’s phone into the public domain, exposing communications involving Moraes and other public figures.
In response, Moraes asked the tribunal’s president, Edson Fachin, to open an inquiry against Mendonça for alleged abuse of authority, administrative improbity, and responsibility offenses. Moraes utilized the framework of the tribunal’s Inquérito das Fake News
—an instrument opened in 2019 to investigate attacks against the court and democratic institutions—to challenge his colleague’s oversight of operations Compliance Zero and Sem Desconto.
Moraes argued that Mendonça overstepped standard judicial supervision by assuming police investigative duties and improperly managing plea discussions. Furthermore, Moraes accused Mendonça of targeting specific individuals for political and personal motives, naming Senate President Davi Alcolumbre alongside himself.
Procedural Controversy and Prosecutor General Intervention
Writing in Perfil, legal analysts questioned the validity of Vorcaro making statements directly to Mendonça without going through mandatory preliminary steps involving the Federal Police and the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR).
The Public Ministry declared null the request of Mendonça to investigate the possible links of Moraes with the banker. Meanwhile, investigators noted that Moraes’s communication style—utilizing disappearing messages and leaving his physical device unseized—has left crucial gaps in the evidentiary record.
Political Fallout and Pressures for Removal
The widening scandal has injected severe volatility into Brazil’s political landscape, arriving just ahead of the October presidential elections where incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seeks re-election against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The controversy expanded further when police uncovered indications that Vorcaro also sought assistance from General Prosecutor Paulo Gonet and Federal Police Director General Andrei Rodrigues.
President Lula addressed the crisis publicly, demanding transparency and unsparing accountability across all levels of government. Lula characterized the Banco Master fraud as the largest theft in the nation’s history.
It is essential that everyone is investigated, (…) no matter whose ox gets gored.
The institutional pressure intensified when two of the country’s most influential daily newspapers published editorials demanding the resignation or senatorial impeachment of Moraes. Critics argue that his past role in the process that led former president Jair Bolsonaro to prison for coup-plotting stands in sharp contrast to his current ethical entanglements.
Next Legal Steps and Plenary Decision
Supreme Court President Edson Fachin granted the contending parties and authorities a five-day deadline to submit formal positions regarding the Public Ministry’s decision that declared null the request of Mendonça to investigate the possible links of Moraes with the banker.
The ultimate resolution of the crisis rests with the full court.
