Brazil: Banco Master Scandal
Key Facts
—Scale. The Central Bank ordered Banco Master’s extrajudicial liquidation on November 18, 2025. Around 1.6 million creditors held roughly R$41 billion (US$7.9 billion, at the August 31, 2026 rate of R$5.18 per dollar) in FGC-guaranteed instruments at Master alone; including the related Will Bank and Banco Pleno failures, the deposit-guarantee bill approaches R$52 billion (about US$10 billion) — the largest in Brazilian history.
—Mechanism. Master funded its growth with CDBs paying up to 140% of the CDI benchmark, sold through digital investment platforms. Federal Police say the bank built fictitious credit portfolios — including payroll-loan packages sold to state-owned Banco de Brasília (BRB) — and estimate the fraud at around R$12.2 billion (about US$2.4 billion).
—The owner. Controlling shareholder Daniel Vorcaro was arrested on November 17, 2025 at São Paulo’s Guarulhos airport while attempting to leave Brazil on a private jet. Released weeks later, he was re-arrested on March 4, 2026 in a new phase of Operation Compliance Zero. Both of his plea-bargain proposals have been rejected.
