By Rodrigo Vianna
Organizações Globo, recently scrutinized for its coverage of financier Daniel Vorcaro, benefited from significant financial support from the founder of Banco Master. In May 2024, Vorcaro served as the primary sponsor of an event in New York City hosted by Valor Econômico, a publication of Grupo Globo, attracting a diverse group of attendees including business leaders, governors, and political figures such as Cláudio Castro (PL-RJ) and Ronaldo Caiado (PSD-Head).
The Master Bank logo was prominently displayed on banners at the luxurious Hotel Plaza in New York, as Frederic Kachar, Director of Editora Globo, opened the event. Kachar emphasized a relationship between Globo and Vorcaro that extended beyond a simple financial arrangement. He stated, “We are delighted to have sponsors from companies we admire and with whom I have the privilege of being friends. Many thanks to Banco Master [smiles and points to the audience, where the then-banker was present], in the person of its president, Daniel Vorcaro, who is presenting today’s seminar.”
Following this, a representative of the Marinho family, which controls Globo, likewise thanked Ricardo Magro of Gulf Combustíveis, another sponsor of the New York event. Magro is considered Brazil’s largest tax evader and currently resides in the United States. In early 2026, Brazilian President Lula da Silva reportedly suggested to the Trump administration that Magro be extradited; he is the owner of Grupo Refit and was the target of Operation Carbono Oculto, which investigated links between organized crime and the fuel sector.
The Globo event featured sponsorship from both an individual suspected of involvement in Brazil’s largest tax evasion and money laundering scheme, and a banker who was later arrested for, among other things, maintaining a network of criminals to intimidate those who challenged him. This highlights the complex relationships between business, media, and political figures in Brazil.
While Globo was not part of the WhatsApp group referred to by Vorcaro as “The Team,” the 2024 event demonstrates that Vorcaro was closely aligned with Globo at that time. This information was revealed by Correio da Manhã, which published the full video of the event transmitted by the Valor Econômico journal. Correio da Manhã estimates the sponsorship from the imprisoned banker to such a Globo event would have cost at least R$ 10 million – equivalent to three months of the contract between Viviane Barci, wife of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, and Master Bank.
This contract has been cited by some as evidence of a potential “quid pro quo” arrangement between Master Bank and the Supreme Federal Court Minister. Several commentators and columnists at Globo have discussed or alluded to this possibility, with one, Fernando Gabeira, even suggesting the closure of the Supreme Federal Court.
However, questions remain as to whether Globo, given its financial ties to Vorcaro and the family Marinho’s connections to those who protected Master Bank at the Central Bank (spot below regarding Roberto Campos Neto’s move to a company owned by the Marinho family), can act as an impartial investigator in this case. Why is Globo focusing its criticism on the Supreme Federal Court while largely sparing Campos Neto, who is now an employee of the Marinho family at Nubank?
Vorcaro, the Thinker, Friend of Globo’s “Fred” Kachar
By sponsoring the Globo event, Vorcaro gained access to Brazil’s financial elite, with the blessing of the Marinho family.
Perhaps most striking is how Vorcaro presented himself to the leading figures of Brazilian capital at the New York event. Upon taking the stage, he was received as a sage, a successful businessman authorized to comment on Brazilian democracy and institutions, even discussing the effects of the Lava Jato scandal. This was particularly noteworthy given the circumstances surrounding his own legal troubles.
In New York, Vorcaro received the endorsement of the Marinho family: a banker who “makes a difference.” A friend of the influential Kachar, a Globo executive known for his participation in lavish parties where he performed as a DJ (journalists who attended these parties describe his performances as underwhelming), Vorcaro confidently delivered remarks such as the following:
“I was incredibly honored with the invitation from ‘Fred.’ [The journal] Valor has been a bulwark for our nation, ‘Fred.’ Valor has been a reference and a guide for us Brazilians, with always accurate and impartial information. Congratulations to ‘Fred’ and the entire team that I greatly admire – Lauro, Maria Fernanda, Álvaro, Malu, and everyone else whom I greatly admire.”
He then praised Brazilian democracy and lauded the “legal certainty” provided by the Brazilian institutional framework, stemming from the 1988 Constitution:
“We have had institutional crises, we went through Lava Jato, but we came out of all this stronger. If there is a democracy that was forged in fire and blood, it is Brazilian democracy. I believe we have three strong powers that complement and audit each other, and Here’s something we must be proud of. We do indeed have legal certainty; all of this recent past shows how strong our democracy is and how much legal certainty we have in our country.”
Vorcaro believed that “legal certainty,” in the case of Master Bank, would be built by securing access to the Republic’s powers and, of course, contributing financially to Grupo Globo, because no one is immune.
Vorcaro, King of the Box in Rio
Less than two years passed between him being treated as a wise man and friend in New York… and then being ostracized as a banker who corrupted institutions, helping to create the narrative used to target Xandão and release Bolsonaro.
Frederic Kacher, or “Fred” to those close to him, had such a close relationship with Vorcaro that Editora Globo and Master Bank agreed to a partnership in the box at the Rio Carnival, at least between 2022 and 2024. Artists and influencers circulated there, many wearing carnival shirts emblazoned with the logos of the Quem magazine (Editora Globo) and O Globo, alongside the Master Bank logo.
An article published in the Rio de Janeiro newspaper in February 2023 announced that the Quem/O Globo box had “received decoration in homage to the postcards of Rio,” and openly advertised “the idea is that people really eat, without problems and without queues.” During the party, the newspaper stated, “partner brands prepared gifts to craft the invited reveler even happier.” And finally, it stated that everything was paid for with “master sponsorship from Fit Combustíveis, Cedae, Banco Master,” among others.
Those who pay the gifts have preference, of course! People who circulated in the box in those years say that Vorcaro acted as host, as the true owner of the house in Globo’s box.
Again, the question arises: is a minister of the Supreme Federal Court drinking whiskey, sponsored by Vorcaro in London, suspicious and questionable? Yes. But what about a media group that helped build Vorcaro’s image as a respectable figure, opening the doors for him to mingle with the Brazilian elite – accepting his sponsorship of events at the Rio Carnival and in luxury hotels in New York?
The imprisoned banker and “Fred” from the Globo editor’s office apparently even had a romantic relationship with the same actress: they dated Monique Afradique. In Fred’s case, it was a public relationship, with them appearing together at upscale events across Brazil. Vorcaro, however, reportedly used the codename “Allan do TI” to hide Monique in his contact list, to which the Federal Police had access.
All of this would be of an absolutely intimate nature, were it not further evidence that Vorcaro, the outlaw banker, and “Fred,” the boss at Globo, frequented the same circles and associated with the same people.
It was Frederic Kachar, who appointed Diego Escosteguy as director of Época magazine between 2015 and 2018. Known for being one of the most ardent supporters of Lava Jato during its heyday, and for pressuring fellow journalists to follow the same line of engaged journalism with the right, Escosteguy is now accused of something more serious: receiving R$ 2 million to publish articles favorable to Vorcaro on the O Bastidor website, which he created after leaving Organizações Globo.
Escosteguy denies being a corrupt journalist and says he received the funds from Vorcaro as payment for advertising – all on a website that appears to be a public failure but a master success in the commercial department.
Campos Neto and the Marinho Family
The partnership between the Marinho family and banker Roberto Campos Neto is not merely ideological. This may explain why the former president of the Central Bank has been largely spared in Globo’s coverage of the Master Bank case.
The Marinho family, whose media businesses grew exponentially under the patronage of the military dictatorship to which Campos Neto’s grandfather served, is a staunch advocate of privatization, severe fiscal adjustment, a new “pension reform” that further punishes workers, and total “autonomy” for the Central Bank. In all of this, Globo and Campos Neto are partners.
However, there is an organic relationship, little exposed to the general public. After leaving the Central Bank, hailed as a hero by Faria Lima, and wearing a yellow shirt to vote to show he is a figure of Bolsonaro’s supporters, Campos Neto was hired as the main executive of Nubank – an institution of the new financial generation that is growing rapidly.
It happens that the Marinho family is a declared partner of Nubank. In July 2024, discreetly, the market was informed in specialized press reports that Globo Ventures had acquired a stake in Nubank: it did not buy shares or make a capital contribution, but built the partnership based on a barter agreement. In other words, Globo offered advertising space on TV in exchange for an increasing share of the digital bank’s shares. Nubank, for example, appeared prominently in dozens of commercials during the most expensive time slot on Globo’s advertising: the Jornal Nacional (JN) news program.
Roberto Marinho Neto, CEO of Globo Ventures, defended the family’s commercial strategy in an interview in July 2025, stating: “The future will belong to brands capable of renewing strategies, testing hypotheses, and investing in innovative partnerships.” Among the partnerships, Marinho Neto (known for being an enthusiastic supporter of Flamengo, to the point of chartering planes with friends to watch the team’s games abroad) cited Nubank and Quinto Andar as “two disruptive, innovative, and admirable brands.”
It is not possible to confirm whether one of Marinho Neto’s disruptive strategies was to suggest Campos Neto’s name to lead Nubank in July 2025. The former president of the Central Bank is now the main executive of the digital bank, which also hired another official from the BC: Otávio Damaso was Director of Rules and Regulation at the BC and, after fulfilling the mandatory quarantine period, entered Nubank through the revolving door to take care of exactly the same area of regulation.
Notably, Otávio Damaso coordinated the supervision at the Central Bank precisely during the period when the monetary authority did not seem to notice anything abnormal in Vorcaro’s actions, allowing him to obtain official registration to operate Master Bank – this after the banker visited the Central Bank headquarters 24 times during Campos Neto’s administration – as shown by an exclusive report by ICL Noticias. Regarding Damaso, there are no indications of wrongdoing. However, the impression remains of lenient regulation, to say the least.
What we have here, in summary?
1 – Campos Neto and his directors at the Central Bank never bothered Vorcaro, allowing him to commit operational absurdities that led to the liquidation of Master Bank (and liquidation only occurred after Gabriel Galípolo took over the BC), leaving a trail of destruction in public pension funds and losses for thousands of investors.
2 – Campos Neto and one of his directors (precisely the Director of Rules and Regulation), upon leaving the Central Bank, took refuge under the umbrella of Nubank – which was one of the banks to sell Master Bank papers (CDBs with out-of-standard rates).
3 – Globo, a partner of Nubank, is trying to turn the Master Bank scandal (which grew under the direction of Campos Neto at the Central Bank and sponsored Globo’s own actions) into a “Supreme Federal Court scandal.” This strategy falls flat for Bolsonaro supporters and their allies on Faria Lima.
4- By acting in this way, Globo helps shield an executive who works for a company owned by the Marinho family: the Bolsonaro supporter Campos Neto.
Globo seems so concerned with hiding this web of relationships that on Wednesday (March 11) it published a “vaccine” in the form of an “investigation” on a journalist’s blog. The news is that the Planalto Palace is trying to “focus the crisis on the performance of the Central Bank during Campos Neto’s administration.”
However, it is not the Planalto Palace that can bring the case to Campos Neto’s attention, but reality. Master Bank and its bankruptcy only existed because a figure from Bolsonaro’s supporters, who is now an employee of the Marinho family as an executive at Nubank, allowed this to happen.
Vorcaro only gained notoriety and space among the Brazilian elite because he received the endorsement of the Marinho family, by sponsoring/presenting an event in New York and by funding part of Globo’s box at the Rio Carnival.
If a drawing was needed, here is the complete picture.
