Brazil: Ex-Justice Minister Invited Jailed Banker to His Swearing-In
BRAZIL · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil, where the owner of a failed mid-sized lender was arrested in November 2025. The scandal has since drawn in senior officials.
- —Why it matters Ricardo Lewandowski is a retired Supreme Court justice who then ran the justice ministry, which oversees the Federal Police, from February 2024 to January 2026.
- —What happened On 28 September O Globo published messages showing he invited the banker Daniel Vorcaro to his 1 February 2024 swearing-in, one day before the ceremony.
- —Who is involved Lewandowski’s family law firm advised Vorcaro’s bank from August 2023 to August 2025, according to his press office.
- —What it means for you Material from one seized phone keeps reaching the top of Brazil’s institutions, days before the 4 October general election.
- —Still open Whether investigators see anything improper in the contacts. None of the reports accuses Lewandowski of a crime.
Brazil’s former justice minister Ricardo Lewandowski, a retired Supreme Court justice, invited Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro to his swearing-in, messages show. The columnist Bela Megale published the exchanges in O Globo on Monday 28 September.
The messages come from Vorcaro’s phone, which the Federal Police seized in the fraud investigation into his collapsed bank. Vorcaro was first arrested in November 2025 and is now in pre-trial detention, awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on his request for release.
What the messages show
According to O Globo, Lewandowski wrote on Wednesday 31 January 2024: “I count on you and Augusto at my swearing-in.” The ceremony took place the next day.
Augusto is Augusto Ferreira Lima, Vorcaro’s former partner at the bank, who is also under investigation. The messages show the two men had met in São Paulo on Monday 29 January.
Afterwards Vorcaro wrote that he had attended “with great honour” but could not greet him. Lewandowski replied: “I hope to see you again soon.”
On 19 March 2024, already in office, Lewandowski sent Vorcaro a new phone number. The call that followed lasted just over three minutes, Times Brasil, the local CNBC affiliate, reported.
Why the timing matters
When Lula named him minister, Lewandowski’s law firm was advising Banco Master. His press office told O Globo the consultancy contract ran from August 2023 to August 2025.
He says he suspended his bar registration and left the firm on taking office. His wife and his son Enrique kept running it, and it kept serving the bank.
The police force that investigated the bank reports to the justice ministry. Lewandowski resigned in January 2026, telling Lula he needed to look after his family, CNN Brasil reported.
A thread that keeps growing
It is the third such disclosure in about a week. Estadão confirmed on 25 September that Vorcaro invited the then minister for wine in November 2024. He agreed to meet at the banker’s Brasília home.
Folha de S.Paulo reported that in December 2024 Vorcaro told his legal director to give Enrique Lewandowski “some case or opinion” under the contract. The firm says its work then focused on tax matters.
Lewandowski says that as minister he “rigorously complied with the law” and kept out of matters beyond his portfolio. He adds that the police inquiry that led to Vorcaro’s arrest happened on his watch.
The Banco Master affair has already touched Justice Alexandre de Moraes. It has reached the campaign too, where the election court pulled a Lula ad tying his rival to Vorcaro.
What Is Not Yet Known
The messages show contact, not an illegal act. It is not known whether investigators see anything improper in them.
What was discussed at the January and November 2024 meetings is also unknown. Estadão noted that his team did not address the November meeting.
Only extracts of the messages have been published so far.
Sources: O Globo (Bela Megale), 28 September 2026; Times Brasil | CNBC, 28 September 2026; Estadão, 25 September 2026; Gazeta do Povo, citing Folha de S.Paulo, 22 September 2026; CNN Brasil, 8 January 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times