By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazilian Development Bank President Aloizio Mercadante voiced support for Itaú Unibanco Holding SA Chief Executive Officer Milton Maluhy Filho after federal investigators uncovered evidence that former Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro requested a dossier containing personal and financial information about the executive.
Mercadante said in a statement Friday that the reported effort to collect confidential information on Maluhy was “serious and unacceptable,” describing the alleged use of protected data to pressure or intimidate individuals as incompatible with democratic institutions. The information was first reported by Brazilian news outlet Brasil 247.
The statement adds a prominent government voice to the growing reaction to the latest phase of the investigation into Banco Master, which was liquidated by Brazil’s central bank last year. The Federal Police are examining an alleged communications and influence operation that sought to defend the lender, attack the central bank and undermine people regarded as obstacles to Vorcaro’s interests.
Maluhy has led Itaú Unibanco (B3: ITUB4; NYSE: ITUB), Latin America’s largest privately controlled bank by assets, since 2021. In April, he was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of Febraban, Brazil’s banking federation, for a term running through March 2029.
According to messages cited in a decision by Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça, Vorcaro asked advertising executive Thiago Miranda to conduct a background check on Maluhy, saying the Itaú CEO was “causing me a lot of trouble.” Miranda later told Vorcaro that the material had been completed and suggested that it could be published through another media outlet.
Investigators found a document containing personal and financial information about Maluhy and his wife, according to the judicial decision. The file allegedly included identification details and references to assets, and carried the branding of a company connected to Miranda.
Mendonça authorized searches at addresses linked to the advertising executive as part of the latest phase of Operation Compliance Zero. The Federal Police said evidence suggested Miranda may have helped recruit digital influencers to defend Banco Master and criticize the central bank, as well as participate in unlawful monitoring, attempts to obtain confidential information and efforts to intimidate journalists.
Miranda had previously been treated as a witness in the Master investigation. Reuters reported that he could not be reached for comment following the searches and that his lawyers were not immediately located. Itaú declined to comment on the allegations.
Mercadante linked the alleged targeting of Maluhy to the executive’s role in defending the Fundo Garantidor de Créditos, or FGC, the privately funded deposit-insurance mechanism used to reimburse eligible customers when Brazilian financial institutions are placed under intervention or liquidation.
According to Mercadante, Itaú is responsible for about 16% of the fund’s contributions, giving the bank a significant financial interest in protecting the mechanism from losses associated with failed institutions. He praised Maluhy for what he described as a rigorous defense of an instrument that is central to investor protection and financial stability.
The comments highlight the broader tensions generated by the collapse of Banco Master. The case has moved beyond questions about the lender’s balance sheet and financial transactions, increasingly focusing on allegations that people connected to the bank sought to influence public debate, discredit regulators and collect information on critics.
Operation Compliance Zero is investigating suspected fraudulent management of a financial institution, market manipulation, money laundering and criminal organization in connection with Banco Master. The allegations remain under investigation.
Mercadante said he stood in solidarity with Maluhy and his family and expressed confidence in the Federal Police and Brazil’s judiciary. He described the Master case as the country’s largest financial-crime scandal, a characterization that reflects the political and institutional gravity attributed to the investigation but has not been established by a final court ruling.