The Banco Master Affair Shakes Brazil
R$41 Billion and the October Vote

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The Banco Master affair, called one of the largest bank frauds in Brazil's history, is shaking the presidential race set for October. The allegations reach both the circle of Lula's ministers and the Bolsonaro camp, and some see echoes of the Mensalao scandal and the Lava Jato (Car Wash) probe that once rocked governments.

The Shape of "the Biggest Bank Fraud"

Brazil's central bank wound down Banco Master on November 18, 2025. The hole reached R$41 billion (about $7.6 billion), with embezzlement alone put at roughly $2 billion. Harmed creditors numbered more than 1.6 million. Former finance minister Fernando Haddad called it probably the largest bank fraud in Brazil's history. The probe sketched owner Daniel Vorcaro as having built a wide network of influence across politics, business and the state. Fraud against state and municipal pension funds, carbon-credit fraud, market manipulation, money laundering — the allegations run wide, with suspected ties to Brazil's largest criminal organization, the PCC.

Spilling Over to Both Left and Right

The case became election fuel because the allegations reached both sides. Former president Michel Temer's law firm was reported to have received R$10 million from the bank, and payments to former central bank chief Henrique Meirelles are said to total R$18.5 million. Ricardo Lewandowski, who served as Lula's justice minister, resigned in 2026, and it emerged that the law firm he once led had taken advisory fees from the bank. The Bolsonaro camp took a hit too: a tie to the former president's son, congressman Flavio Bolsonaro, was reported in May 2026, weighing on his support.

A May 22 poll showed Lula keeping a narrow lead over Flavio Bolsonaro. But in a survey by the consultancy Quaest, corruption rose to second among voters' priorities.

A New Lava Jato?

Voices calling this the next Lava Jato came early. The Lava Jato probe began in 2014 and dismantled a corruption structure around the oil company Petrobras; it also saw Lula himself arrested and jailed, with sharp political swings. How far this case goes in the courts is unclear, but it is surely changing the mood of an election year. In Brazil, the Supreme Court itself sits amid the politics, and the right has pursued a strategy targeting the justice who led the prosecution of Bolsonaro the elder. October's vote could also become a test of judicial independence itself. This article supports no particular side; it follows the facts.

The more the allegations pull in both left and right, the more a sense spreads that corruption is not one party's problem — and distrust in politics can deepen.

※ This article is the author’s commentary based on public information. Please confirm the latest figures, dates and procedures with governments and primary sources. Quotations are kept minimal and sources are cited.