World
Embedded messages in a court case open a dispute over Celina Leão’s role in the BRB-Master negotiations
An exchange between Daniel Vorcaro and Thiago Miranda, disclosed after the secrecy order was lifted in the Compliance Zero operation investigation, suggests that the current governor of the Federal District may not have been left out of the talks. The local government denies it and says she always opposed the deal.
An exchange of messages included in the material that became public after the secrecy order was lifted in the investigation into the Compliance Zero operation added a new chapter to the debate over the failed purchase of Banco Master by Banco de Brasília (BRB). According to G1 Globo, the conversation involves former banker Daniel Vorcaro and businessman Thiago Miranda, and was obtained by the Federal Police.
According to that outlet, the chat is from April 5, 2025, when Ibaneis Rocha was governor of the Federal District and Celina Leão held the vice governorship. That day, Miranda sent Vorcaro a note from journalist Malu Gaspar’s blog in O Globo, in which Leão said she had not been consulted about the operation and had learned of it through the press.
Still according to G1 Globo, Miranda then wrote that Celina Leão was trying to “show up” because she had been left out of the negotiations. Vorcaro responded with a different version: he said she “was not left out” and attributed that stance to a political preservation strategy.
The existence of the message was revealed by Folha de S.Paulo and, according to G1 Globo, both that outlet and TV Globo confirmed the authenticity of the material. The documents were released last week by decision of Supreme Federal Court Justice André Mendonça.
The government of the Federal District rejected that interpretation in a note sent to G1 Globo. It said it is not true that Celina Leão took part in any kind of negotiation over the purchase of Master by BRB and added that Vorcaro’s statements do not allow that conclusion. The local administration also said that the then vice governor opposed the operation from the outset.
According to G1 Globo, Leão also reaffirmed that position in an interview given this Tuesday to the DF1 newscast, before the messages became known. There she said her role as vice governor was very limited to political representation and the fulfillment of schedules, and said she publicly disagreed with the operation from the beginning.
The mention of Celina Leão appears within a Federal Police report on alleged attempts to harass and investigate journalist Malu Gaspar. According to G1 Globo, investigators point to Thiago Miranda as a central figure in recruiting influencers for those actions and in the payments to those people. The report also says the journalist’s posts about alleged irregularities at the bank worried Vorcaro.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do its own reporting on this fact.
