BRAZIL · POLITICS
Key Facts
- The country Brazil’s Supreme Court has eleven justices and rules on elections, business and politics.
- What happened Banker Daniel Vorcaro’s phone has 316 interactions with a contact saved as Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
- The context Vorcaro owned Banco Master, a bank Brazil’s central bank shut down in November 2025.
- The response Moraes denies the messages were meant for him; no court has found wrongdoing.
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 74.2 points (November 2026 edition).
A journalistic count of the data recovered from the phone of Brazilian banker Daniel Vorcaro finds 316 interactions with a contact saved as Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, in the two months before Vorcaro’s arrest in November 2025. Moraes and the court deny that the messages were meant for him, and no court has found wrongdoing.
For US readers, the story matters because Brazil’s Supreme Court shapes rulings on elections, business and markets. The count was published on Friday 6 November 2026 and is not an official police figure.
What the Phone Count Shows
The count, from the data recovered by the Federal Police (Brazil’s national law enforcement agency), adds up 316 interactions between Vorcaro’s phone and the contact saved as Moraes: 187 messages sent by Vorcaro and 129 records attributed to Moraes or to WhatsApp notices. The total also includes photos, calls and missed calls.
It also reports 17 new messages on top of the 52 that the Federal Police had already listed in its report. The new ones were recovered from secondary databases kept by the messaging app, and in some chats the order of the words had to be rebuilt.
Who Is Daniel Vorcaro
Vorcaro is the former owner of Banco Master, a Brazilian lender that the central bank shut down in November 2025. He was arrested that month in the Federal Police investigation into the bank.
The Federal Police works much like the FBI. Its report on the phone was made public after Justice André Mendonça, who handles the case petition at the Supreme Court, lifted its secrecy.
What the Messages Say
In the recovered messages, Vorcaro asks for help with his situation at Banco Master and mentions a possible meeting. He also asks whether the justice could talk with the Federal Police director, Andrei Rodrigues, and with Attorney General Paulo Gonet.
We have seen no finding in the published material that Moraes interfered in any investigation or granted any request. The messages are attributed to him because they went to a contact saved under his name.
What Moraes Says
Moraes has denied the conversations and has said in filings to the Supreme Court that the dialogues never existed. The Supreme Court’s press office said earlier this year that the messages were not addressed to him and match other contacts in Vorcaro’s phone.
Vorcaro’s defence has questioned the integrity of the phone files. The 316 figure is a journalistic count of recovered data, so other counts of the same material may differ.
What It Means for You
If you invest in Brazilian stocks, bonds or ADRs (US-listed receipts of Brazilian companies), the case is an institutional risk, because a court crisis can slow decisions on business and politics. Nothing in it points to a direct market move today.
Travelers face no direct effect. US companies working in Brazil should watch whether the Supreme Court changes how Banco Master cases are handled.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether the 316 count is complete or whether every record belongs to Moraes. The recovered data are partly rebuilt, and the replies from Moraes’s side were not recovered.
It is also unknown whether prosecutors or the Supreme Court will open any inquiry into the justice. No court has ruled on whether any message was improper.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Does the Phone Count Show?
It counts 316 interactions between Vorcaro’s phone and a contact saved as Moraes. They include 187 messages from Vorcaro, calls and photos.
Who Is Alexandre de Moraes?
He is a justice of Brazil’s Supreme Court, which has eleven members. He has led several high-profile cases in recent years.
Has Moraes Responded?
Moraes has denied the conversations and has said in filings to the Supreme Court that the dialogues never existed. The court’s press office earlier said the messages were not addressed to him.
Why Does This Matter for Brazil’s Markets?
The case concerns the country’s highest court and a failed bank. Investors follow it as a test of how stable Brazil’s institutions are.
Sources: Supreme Federal Court of Brazil (STF), press office statements and case records; Brazilian Federal Police, report on the Banco Master investigation; Central Bank of Brazil, Banco Master liquidation, November 2025.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
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