World
Brazil’s Supreme Court restricts access to Daniel Vorcaro phone data amid internal dispute
The copy sent by the Federal Police to Supreme Court justices contains 500 gigabytes and is being reviewed under tight controls in individual chambers. The material has deepened an internal court crisis over how broadly the data should be shared.
Offices at Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court have limited access to the review of a copy of data extracted from the seized phone of former banker Daniel Vorcaro, according to O Globo. The examination covers both a general search of the contents and specific points flagged by the justices, as well as a check on how the Federal Police selected material for its reports.
O Globo reported that the court has not yet decided on its next steps and has set no deadline for finishing the review. The compressed file sent by the Federal Police at the request of Supreme Court justices totals 500 gigabytes.
According to accounts cited by g1, the data is organized into folders containing chats, audio files and activity logs from the device. The handling of the material is meant to preserve personal privacy and avoid exposing information tied to inquiries that have not yet been launched or that could open new investigative fronts.
The Federal Police organized the extracted contents using IPED, a digital forensics tool employed to sort and analyze electronic evidence. According to the Brazilian outlet, the software allows keyword searches in conversations and documents, structures files and generates a code to verify evidentiary integrity and detect possible tampering. Investigators also used tools to access deleted or password-protected data, copy the phone’s full contents, recover fragments and track records of sent messages and files.
The copy was sent to Cristiano Zanin, Gilmar Mendes, Alexandre de Moraes, Luiz Fux, André Mendonça and Nunes Marques. In a statement, the Federal Police said the delivered copies are identical to the extraction made from the device and added that the original material remains at the agency under a formally documented chain of custody with intact seals and digital integrity checks.
Access to the phone data unfolded amid a dispute among justices over unrestricted access to Vorcaro’s digital archive and on the eve of a session set to decide whether to open an inquiry involving Moraes. O Globo said Zanin and Mendes asked court president Edson Fachin for full access to the mirrored phone contents. Fachin chose to hear from Mendonça, rapporteur in the Master case, who argued that disclosure could disrupt the proceedings.
Even without a decision from the court’s president, Zanin, Mendes and Moraes ordered the Federal Police to send a copy. Mendonça also said the file he received was an encrypted, sealed backup intended as a safeguard in case the original was lost, and stated that he had not handled the media.
The phone was seized by the Federal Police during the first pretrial detention ordered by the courts on November 17 last year. The extraction indicated that Vorcaro had exchanges with authorities across all three branches of government, including Supreme Court justices, relatives, politicians, members of Congress, senators and Central Bank directors.
According to O Globo, the material has already supported searches targeting senators Ciro Nogueira and Jaques Wagner and intensified the crisis inside the Supreme Court when André Mendonça lifted the secrecy of a Federal Police report that identified Alexandre de Moraes as the counterpart in 52 messages with Vorcaro.
That report, produced at Mendonça’s order, says Moraes directly took part in reviewing and editing a 130 million real contract signed between Banco Master and the Barci de Moraes law firm, owned by Viviane Barci, the justice’s wife. The Federal Police also said that, two days before his arrest, Vorcaro asked Moraes whether he should leave Brazil, sought help to contain actions by the Federal Police and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office against the bank, and met with him eight times.
Moraes dismissed the communications attributed to him by the Federal Police as fanciful and said he never favored either the banker or Banco Master.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
