Paulo Gonet Evaluates Intervening in the STF Session on the Report That Mentions Alexandre de Moraes and Daniel Vorcaro

Brazil’s attorney general, Paulo Gonet, is considering taking part in the session of the Supreme Federal Court that will review the report naming Alexandre de Moraes as an interlocutor of former banker Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master.

According to Folha de S.Paulo, Gonet intends to speak during that session and is also considering using the moment to deny any closeness to Vorcaro. The head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office had already asked on the 1st of this month for the report to be annulled.

In the days leading up to the case’s review, the Attorney General’s Office redistributed responsibility for the investigation linked to Banco Master and set up a working group. According to Folha, the decision sought to give the proceeding a more institutional character and reduce pressure on Gonet’s direct involvement.

Now also involved in the case files are deputy attorney general Hindenburgo Chateaubriand and assistant attorney generals Edílio Magalhães Teixeira and André de Carvalho Ramos. The first two coordinate the work, the newspaper reported.

Folha also reported that the president of the Supreme Court, Edson Fachin, pressed Gonet to step aside from the Banco Master case and not attend the session scheduled for this Tuesday. According to court sources cited by the outlet, Fachin even considered a judicial measure to remove him, although he ultimately opted for a path based on a decision by the attorney general himself.

Last week, Gonet and Fachin met for about half an hour in the office of the STF presidency. People familiar with those conversations told Folha that Fachin suggested the Prosecutor’s Office have another representative at the session and that one of the alternatives was Hindenburgo Chateaubriand. In any case, the final decision remained in Gonet’s hands.

In defending the case’s nullity, Gonet argued that rapporteur André Mendonça used the police to push forward an investigation into a colleague and said that a judge should not accuse or carry out investigations before the trial.

In the same document that brings together messages from Vorcaro to Moraes, references to Gonet also appear. Folha noted that there are exchanges in which lawyer Ciro Soares forwards messages attributed to the attorney general to the former owner of Master. In other passages, Vorcaro asks Moraes to contact Gonet and the head of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, to halt an operation against the financial institution.

Still according to Folha, the findings also mention that a son of the attorney general asked the banker to attend an event financed by him in London, with expenses covered.

People close to Gonet told the newspaper that the prosecutor says he did not have a close relationship with Vorcaro and that he only spoke with him on one occasion, long before the case became public. He also says he never suffered attempts to interfere in investigations into Banco Master. In his circle, they added that he knew Ciro Soares and that the friendly treatment reflected his personal style.

In parallel, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Superior Council opened a proceeding on the 3rd of this month to investigate the references to the attorney general in the former banker’s messages. According to Folha, Gonet seeks to use that instance to respond to questions about a possible lack of impartiality.

Sources

• Folha de S.Paulo

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.