STORY-TRÅD·politik
Top court to rule if Justice Moraes can be probed in bank fraud case
The full bench of the Federal Supreme Court will begin considering this Tuesday morning (Sep. 15) whether Justice Alexandre de Moraes can be investigated for alleged ties with former banker Daniel Vorcaro. The court’s plenary session was convened by Justice André Mendonça, the former rapporteur for the Banco Master case, after a Federal Police probe revealed that Vorcaro had contacted a cell phone number attributed to Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Notícias relacionadas:Brazil’s Supreme Court says it will not give in to external pressure.Brazil Supreme Court: Big tech companies liable for illegal content.Billions frozen in crackdown on Brazil’s biggest bank fraud case.The messages were intercepted by the Federal Police after the secrecy of the former banker’s cell phone records was lifted. He is currently in custody as part of the Operation Compliance Zero investigations into financial fraud at Banco Master. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued a statement early this morning regarding the ruling that will determine whether he can be investigated for his alleged relationship with former banker Daniel Vorcaro. In a statement sent to the court’s chief justice, Edson Fachin, Moraes denies having committed any kind of irregularity and described the report containing alleged messages sent to him by the former banker as unconstitutional and illegal. In a 44-page document, Moraes refers to Mendonça’s report as “false and worthless.” The conversations are fabricated, he claims. “As previously stated, there is an attempt to impose strict liability for third-party messages found in a cell phone’s ‘notepad,’ which was seized during a successful police operation in which the suspect was arrested.” Furthermore, Moraes argues, of the 52 notes found on the former banker’s cell phone, 47 were not found in the WhatsApp conversations intercepted during the investigation. Thus, in the justice’s view, there is no “actual correspondence” whatsoever. To Moraes’s judgment, the fact that the report was drafted in secret – without a request from the prosecutor-general or authorization from the Supreme Court’s full bench – demonstrates “illegal steering of the investigation” on Justice André Mendonça’s part. Regarding the contract signed between Banco Master and Barci de Moraes Law Firm – which counts Moraes’s wife among its partners – the justice stated he had never represented Banco Master or Daniel Vorcaro in any case. He goes on to defend his wife and children. “They are lawyers and have the right, like all other lawyers, to practice their profession, always in accordance with the law and professional ethics.” At the end of his statement, Moraes cites attempts at revenge and political-electoral motives related to the trial for attempted coup d’état – in which he served as the reporting judge and which convicted leaders of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. “The coup attempt did not end on January 8, 2023; it simply changed its modus operandi. But, just as it did the first time, the Supreme Court will stand firm and emerge stronger.” *With contributions from reporter Priscilla Mazenotti of Rádio Nacional