Video Shows Brazil Justice Moraes Leaving Jet Linked to Jailed Banker
Key Facts
The failure of Banco Master has turned into a test of whether Brazil’s Supreme Court can judge its own members. A new video now puts Justice Alexandre de Moraes on a jet linked to the bank’s jailed owner.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and his wife, lawyer Viviane Barci, were filmed leaving a jet in Rio in August 2025. O Globo columnist Lauro Jardim published it on 20 September 2026, and press reports link the plane to jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro.
Why This Matters Beyond Brazil
Banco Master was a mid-sized private bank that grew fast by selling high-yield deposit certificates. The Central Bank, Brazil’s banking regulator, shut it down on 18 November 2025.
Its failure and two linked liquidations will cost the deposit guarantee fund about R$51.8 billion (US$10 billion), Poder360 reported. That is the largest payout in the history of the fund, which is financed by member banks rather than taxpayers.
Founder Daniel Vorcaro has been held in pre-trial detention since March 2026 and has not been convicted. The case now reaches the Supreme Court, known as the STF, which is Brazil’s highest constitutional court.
Moraes is its best-known member abroad, having led the cases that convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro. Any doubt over his conduct lands in the final weeks before Brazil’s general election on 4 October 2026.
Dollar figures in this article use the Central Bank’s PTAX selling rate of R$5.1575 per dollar on 18 September 2026. PTAX is the official reference rate that the Central Bank publishes each business day.
What the Video Shows
The footage was recorded on 22 August 2025 at Santos Dumont, the downtown airport of Rio de Janeiro. It came from the live airport feed of a YouTube channel called Aviation TV, Gazeta do Povo reported.
It shows Moraes and his wife stepping off a Legacy 650 business jet with the registration PP-NLR. Poder360 reported that the jet is held by a company called Fraction 024 and operated by Prime Aviation.
It said Viking Participações, a Vorcaro fund, held a stake in Fraction 024. Several outlets, including Agência Estado, the news agency of the newspaper Estadão, spread the story on 20 September.
What Moraes Said in March
The video matters because of an earlier denial from the justice’s office. On 31 March 2026, Folha de S.Paulo reported that the couple had taken at least eight flights on Vorcaro-linked aircraft.
Folha said the flights ran from 16 May to 16 October 2025, mainly from Brasília to São Paulo and other destinations. Moraes’s office replied that he “never travelled in any plane of Daniel Vorcaro”, InfoMoney reported.
It called the Folha report fanciful and said he did not even know Fabiano Zettel, Vorcaro’s brother-in-law. When Lauro Jardim showed the office the new video, it repeated the same denial, according to Poder360.
The Wife’s Office Confirms the Flights
The Barci de Moraes law firm, run by the justice’s wife, gave a different kind of answer. It said it hires air-taxi services from several companies, including Prime Aviation, and that Moraes joined some flights.
“On none of the flights on Prime Aviation aircraft with members of the firm was Daniel Vorcaro present,” it said. According to CNN Brasil, the firm added that the aviation companies it hires choose the aircraft.
It also denied, O Povo reported, holding any contract with Prime Aviation or buying shares in aircraft. The firm’s statement does not say who paid for the flights or at what price.
The Messages About Priority Bookings
Messages from Vorcaro’s seized phone add a second layer to the story. On 21 August 2025, the day before the filmed flight, Vorcaro wrote to a Prime booking employee, Estadão reported.
His message read “Não deixe de atender Barci”, which means “Make sure you look after Barci”. In July 2025, Prime manager Marcos Matta told Vorcaro that use of planes and helicopters was under way, Metrópoles reported.
Press reports describe a proposed R$50 million (US$9.7 million) contract for jet and helicopter shares, which the firm says was never signed. In a written defence to the STF, Moraes called claims of a second contract “absolutely false”, CNN Brasil reported on 15 September.
A Separate Video From London
On 20 September, Metrópoles columnist Igor Gadelha published a second video, this time of Vorcaro at a party in London. It was a reception for a legal forum held from 24 to 26 April 2024 and sponsored by Banco Master.
Guests included Federal Police director general Andrei Rodrigues and his executive director, William Murad. Ricardo Lewandowski, a retired STF justice who was then Lula’s justice minister, also appears.
Lewandowski served on the court from 2006 to 2023 and left the ministry in January 2026. Two former ministers under Bolsonaro, Fábio Faria and Senator Ciro Nogueira, were also filmed there.
Metrópoles did not report any comment from the people shown, and attending a reception is not a crime. The Rio Times reported earlier on a photo of the prosecutor general, Paulo Gonet, with Vorcaro at the same London forum.
How the Court Judges Its Own
A Supreme Court justice can only be investigated with the court’s own approval. On 15 September, the STF began deciding whether a Federal Police report on Moraes and Vorcaro justified an inquiry.
That session also split over whether to handle a separate petition against Justice André Mendonça jointly. Mendonça runs the Banco Master case at the court, and the petition accuses him of abuse of authority as rapporteur.
The vote stood at four to three for keeping the two matters apart when Justice Flávio Dino asked for more time. Our earlier report on the justices and Vorcaro’s phone data covers that dispute in detail.
Nunes Marques and the Mendonça Vote
Justice Nunes Marques declared himself impeded from the Moraes case on 15 September, CNN Brasil reported. He said that, as head of the electoral court, he did not feel comfortable taking part before the election.
Leaked Vorcaro messages, CNN Brasil reported, cited alleged monthly payments of R$500,000 (US$97,000) linked to his son, Kevin. Nunes Marques denied that his son worked for Banco Master and said he never exchanged messages with Vorcaro.
Metrópoles reported on 21 September that he is now weighing a vote on the petition against Mendonça. The column said he has told associates his impediment on Moraes does not automatically extend to Mendonça.
What Has Not Been Proven
No court has found that Moraes, his wife or anyone in the London video broke the law. Neither Moraes nor his wife has been charged, and both deny any improper link to Vorcaro.
Hiring a charter company’s jet is not in itself illegal, and payment terms have not been published. The open question is how the March denial fits with the video and the firm’s own statement.
What It Means If You Follow Brazil
For investors, the direct bank losses are already known, since Banco Master has been in liquidation since November 2025. The larger risk is legal uncertainty, as rulings in the case may face challenges over conflicts of interest.
Expect every new leak to be used in the campaign before the first round on 4 October. Readers with claims against the bank should follow the liquidation process, not the political coverage.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is not known who paid for the flights, at what price, or whether the rates matched the market. It is not known whether the R$50 million (US$9.7 million) contract described in the press was ever signed.
The court has not said when it will resume the vote on an inquiry into Moraes. Nunes Marques has not said in public whether he will vote on the Mendonça petition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the video show?
It shows Justice Alexandre de Moraes and his wife leaving a Legacy 650 jet in Rio on 22 August 2025. Press reports link the jet’s owner and operator to Daniel Vorcaro.
What did Moraes say before?
In March 2026, his office said he never flew on any Vorcaro plane. It repeated that denial when shown the video.
Has Moraes been charged with anything?
No. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to open an inquiry, and no court has found wrongdoing.
Who else was filmed with Vorcaro?
A 2024 London video shows the Federal Police chief, Ricardo Lewandowski and two ex-ministers of Bolsonaro. None has been accused of a crime over the event.
Sources: Poder360, the video and the jet’s ownership, CNN Brasil, law firm confirms the flights, Agência Estado via Jornal de Brasília, the March denial and Vorcaro message, O Povo, the firm’s statement and the proposed contract, InfoMoney, Folha’s count of eight flights, Metrópoles, the London video, Metrópoles, Nunes Marques weighs Mendonça vote, CNN Brasil, Nunes Marques declares himself impeded, CNN Brasil, messages on payments linked to Nunes Marques’s son, Migalhas, the four-to-three vote, Poder360, cost to the deposit guarantee fund, Banco Central do Brasil, PTAX dollar rate
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