By Brazil Stock Guide – A federal judge ordered the release of banker Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master, and four senior executives targeted in Operation Compliance Zero, easing restrictions one week after the Federal Police arrested the group on allegations of forging R$12.2 billion in payroll-loan portfolios sold to Banco de Brasília (BRB). The ruling removes preventive detention but imposes monitoring and travel limits as the fraud case expands.
Judge Solange Salgado, of Brazil’s Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region, said the alleged offenses do not involve violence or threats and that detention is no longer necessary to protect public order. Vorcaro and the other defendants must wear electronic ankle monitors, keep passports surrendered and avoid all contact with each other. The banker was arrested on Nov. 17 at São Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport while preparing to board a private jet to Dubai.
The case has shaken Brazil’s financial sector, where Vorcaro, 42, built a reputation for rapid, aggressive expansion. He rebranded Banco Máxima as Banco Master in 2021. On the day of the arrest, Master said it had agreed to sell its operations to Fictor and a group of unnamed UAE investors. Authorities from the Federal Police, Federal Prosecutor’s Office and Brazil’s Central Bank say forged loan portfolios sold to BRB represent more than 20% of the Brasília lender’s total credit book. Master’s defense argues that, after identifying irregular documents in portfolios acquired from third parties, the bank itself began replacing the assets to prevent losses at BRB.