Opposition in DF calls for impeachment of Ibaneis after quote by Vorcaro

Opposition parties in the Federal District filed a request for impeachment against governor Ibaneis Rocha, after he was cited by banker Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master, in investigations into the attempted sale of the institution to Banco de Brasília (BRB).

The requests were presented by PSB-DF and Cidadania-DF and also by PSOL. The captions point to alleged crimes of responsibility related to the local government’s actions in operations involving the public bank. The parties claim that there was “reckless action” by the Executive, posing a risk to the treasury and violating the principles of public administration.

Among the points mentioned are the purchase of bonds considered to be of low quality and irregular origin, the creation of debts outside the budget, negotiations without transparency with the banker and possible undue influence of the governor on BRB’s internal decisions.

The governor denies it. Speaking to the press this Friday (23), Ibaneis stated that he never dealt with the BRB–Master operation with Vorcaro and that all negotiations were conducted by Paulo Henrique Costa, then president of BRB. He confirmed social meetings with the banker, including a lunch at Vorcaro’s house “organized by a mutual friend”, but said he did not discuss matters related to the bank.

Ibaneis also stated that “everything was led” by the former president of the BRB, dismissed after the outbreak of operations by the Federal Police (PF) and the Public Ministry. In 2024 and 2025, BRB injected R$16.7 billion into Banco Master, transfers that are the subject of investigation due to suspicion of fraudulent management.

“At no point in the four times that I met him did I discuss matters related to BRB–Master. I entered mute and left silent. My only mistake was that I trusted Paulo Henrique (Costa) too much”, said Ibaneis Rocha.

Accusations

According to investigations by the Federal Public Ministry and the Federal Police, Banco Master had sold around R$12.2 billion in non-existent portfolios to BRB, in an attempt to avoid the bankruptcy of the private institution, which was facing a liquidity crisis. The case resulted in the liquidation of Banco Master by the Central Bank in November.

The estimated loss in the BRB reaches R$4 billion. According to the newspapers Folha de S.Paulo and Economic Valuethe Central Bank (BC) ordered BRB to make a provision (reserve to cover losses) of at least R$2.6 billion. So far, the BC has not confirmed the information.

Former executives from both institutions were summoned to give testimony at the end of January and beginning of February. The investigations indicate serious governance failures and possible administrative offenses in operations.

According to the newspaper The State of S. PauloVorcaro told the Federal Police that he had spoken “a few times” with Ibaneis about the negotiations. The information became public after the publication accessed the statement given by the banker to the PF on December 30, as determined by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Dias Toffoli.

Status of the investigations

Investigations indicate that, throughout 2025, BRB attempted to acquire a relevant share of Banco Master, an initiative that had the support of the government of the Federal District, controlling shareholder of the public bank, but ended up being blocked by the Central Bank. At the same time, the Federal Police is investigating whether BRB purchased high-risk credit portfolios from the private institution, evaluating possible flaws in the internal analysis, approval and governance processes.

In November, a joint operation by the PF and the Public Ministry removed the then president of the BRB, Paulo Henrique Costa, from his position, who was later fired. In addition to the investigations carried out by these bodies and the Central Bank, the new BRB management and an independent audit also analyze the transactions, but have not yet released official conclusions.