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Nov 7, 2026
Brasília seeks R$2.2 billion for BRB as Banco Master losses remain unclear
The Federal District portrays BRB and its government shareholder as victims entitled to recover frozen assets, while coverage of the request underscores that investigators are still determining the scope of the bank’s exposure and that Banco Master’s former controller disputes the allegations.
The Federal District’s legal office has asked Supreme Court President Edson Fachin to transfer R$2.24 billion in assets frozen from businessman Henrique Moura Vorcaro to Banco de Brasília, or BRB. The government wants the court to formally recognize both the bank and the district administration as victims in the investigation into Banco Master-related transactions.1
The request rests on a broad liability argument. According to the district’s petition, Henrique Vorcaro, father of former Banco Master controller Daniel Vorcaro, allegedly shared operational activities and structures with those under investigation. The government says that common structure served as a connection among participants, and argues that a person involved in a shared criminal scheme can be held responsible for the full damage even if the money did not all pass through that person’s own accounts.1
The district further contends that it and BRB should not have to divide their claims or prove precisely how much of the alleged proceeds reached each entity. Its filing says the conduct under investigation was carried out “to the detriment of Banco Regional de Brasília — BRB and the Federal District, its controlling shareholder.”2
Yet the claim for R$2.2 billion is not a public accounting of BRB’s losses. Another account of the case notes that investigators have cited roughly R$17 billion in transfers from BRB to Banco Master, while stressing that this figure does not itself establish the bank’s actual loss; that will depend on the status of the assets and transactions involved.2 The proposed transfer also requires Supreme Court approval and would not, on its own, settle any broader financial exposure for BRB or the district.
Daniel Vorcaro, meanwhile, denies wrongdoing in the credit-portfolio sales to BRB. In testimony to federal police, he said he was being unfairly blamed and declared: “One day the truth will emerge.”2 The competing positions leave the court to weigh a victim-compensation request against an investigation whose financial consequences remain unsettled.