LatinNews Daily - 26 January 2026

*Brazil’s federal police (PF) has served four search and seizure warrants in Rio de Janeiro state, reportedly in relation to the Banco Master fraud investigation, a high-profile case which has rocked Brazil’s political and business establishment in recent months. The case emerged in November when the central bank (BCB) liquidated Banco Master and its CEO, Daniel Vorcaro, was temporarily arrested. The PF announced the search and seizure warrants were part of an investigation into “suspected irregular financial transactions” that it said “exposed the assets” of an autonomous agency responsible for managing the retirement and pension funds of civil servants in Rio de Janeiro state to “high risk”. It states that this agency invested around R$970m (US$182m) in financial instruments issued by “a private bank” between November 2023-July 2024. According to state-owned news agency Agência Brasil, the agency in question is Rioprevidência, the pension fund for Rio state government staff, and the bank is Banco Master, with the police raids reportedly targeting properties owned by the directors of Rioprevidência. After police investigators served their search warrants, the governor of Rio de Janeiro state, Cláudio Castro, dismissed the head of Rioprevidência, Deivis Marcon Antunes – one of the directors whose homes were reportedly searched by the PF. In recent weeks, the PF has been investigating prominent figures in São Paulo’s financial sector, but this latest phase in the sprawling Banco Master fraud probe represents the first implication of public institutions.

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