Master Case: Mendonça reduces secrecy and gives the Federal Police more autonomy in investigations

A week after the new rapporteur for the investigations into the Banco Master frauds at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) was selected, Minister André Mendonça kept the case confidential, but increased the number of people with access to the investigations within the Federal Police. Furthermore, it gave the corporation more autonomy to conduct the case.

In an order released this Thursday. 19, Mendonça adopts a style that contradicts procedures adopted when Minister Dias Toffoli was in charge of the investigations.

Until now, only four experts authorized by Toffoli could analyze the contents of seized cell phones. With the new decision, the PF is authorized to increase the number of police officers with access to data and the ability to prepare reports on the contents of what is found.

In a letter sent to Mendonça, the PF made a series of considerations about the difficulty of completing the investigation following conditions imposed by Toffoli. In one of the sections, the corporation stated that there were around one hundred electronic devices to be examined, and that a single expert would take “approximately 20 weeks of exclusive dedication to carry out the extraction tests”.

The PF asked that the extractions, indexing and analyzes “follow the normal flow of the Institution’s expert work, with regular distribution of demands among the experts. It also requested that, after the tests, they maintain “full custody of the assets seized in the Federal Police’s warehouses.”

Mendonça agreed with the investigators, as long as they were responsible for preserving the secrecy of the case. The minister cited an academic article he wrote in Spanish to remind that secrecy must be maintained to avoid political use of the information. And he highlighted that the PF must maintain the confidentiality of what it investigates, even from its superiors, indicating that police officers are not authorized to pass on the content of the investigation to the government.

“Only the police authorities and agents directly involved in the analysis and conduct of reciprocally shared procedures should be aware of the information accessed, which imposes on them the duty of professional secrecy, including in relation to hierarchical superiors and other public authorities”, wrote the minister.

The minister also authorized the PF to carry out the steps it deems necessary – “such as, for example, hearing investigated persons and witnesses on Federal Police premises”.

Mendonça also allowed information obtained in the investigations to be shared with the PF General Inspectorate, as long as the data only relates to possible conduct carried out by federal police officers that could constitute criminal practice or misconduct.

The rapporteur also stated that the PF Intelligence Directorate has a duty to share intelligence information about the investigations with the delegates responsible for investigations.

It also authorized the sharing of investigation data with police officers from the Intelligence Directorate who “need to know the data and information for the proper exercise of their functions”. In all cases, Mendonça highlighted the duty to maintain confidentiality.

The minister stated that PF authorities who are not participating in the investigations will continue to have restricted access to information about the case. Finally, the minister emphasized that “the initiation of any new investigation or inquiry must first be expressly and fundamentally requested” of him.

Mendonça’s order thus opens up more possibilities for the PF to conduct investigations, since the minister granted access to the seized data to sectors of the corporation that were previously prevented from analyzing the material. One of the main sources of documentation is the content of electronic media and files found on cell phones.