Vorcaro’s Testimony: The Unnamed “Boss,” Alleged Prison Mistreatment, and the Federal Police Chief
By Hotspotnews
Daniel Vorcaro, the former controlling shareholder of Banco Master, told an auxiliary judge in Justice André Mendonça’s chambers on 27 August 2026 that he had been subjected to physical discomfort and verbal intimidation while being moved between prisons. One episode he described involved being held for six hours inside a cramped, poorly ventilated crate during a transfer from São Paulo to Brasília. When the door was opened, he said a hooded agent remarked that the treatment was what happened when someone wanted to “talk about the boss.”
Vorcaro did not identify the person referred to as “chefe” in that moment. He stated that the transport itself was carried out by state prison officers but that Federal Police agents received him at the airport. In the same testimony he spoke of additional comments made during later transfers, including remarks that anyone who “messed with the bosses” would see their life turned into hell, and a remark made aboard a helicopter that it would be easier to throw him out.
The banker connected these incidents to his unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a plea bargain. He told the judge that the cooperation he wished to offer would involve people from the “nucleus of the current government” and that the Federal Police had shown little interest in hearing him because the account would include the director-general of the force, Andrei Rodrigues. Vorcaro described a prior cordial relationship with Rodrigues that included attendance at events, travel and invitations. He said that relationship predated the Banco Master investigation.
Rodrigues has publicly stated that he attended only one event sponsored by the bank and has denied any close personal or professional proximity to Vorcaro. The Federal Police have not issued a detailed public response to the specific allegations of mistreatment made in the sealed testimony. Justice Mendonça’s office confirmed that the hearing took place at the request of Vorcaro’s lawyers, who cited intimidation, and that no Federal Police representative was present. The office also stated that the minister Alexandre de Moraes was not discussed.
The testimony forms part of the wider Banco Master case, which began with the bank’s extrajudicial liquidation and later expanded to include allegations of financial irregularities, influence peddling and a private network used to monitor and pressure adversaries. Vorcaro has been held in preventive detention since March 2026 after an earlier arrest and release in late 2025. Two earlier plea-bargain proposals were rejected.
The remarks about a “chefe” have circulated widely because they remain unattributed by Vorcaro himself while occurring in a testimony that otherwise names the head of the Federal Police. No independent corroboration of the crate incident or of the quoted comments has been made public. The claims therefore stand as Vorcaro’s account, given under oath in a closed proceeding, and have not been tested in open court.
Sources: VEJA, O Estado de S. Paulo, O Globo, Valor Econômico, Metrópoles, Folha de S.Paulo.
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