an inquiry reveals financial connections between companies linked too the family of Supreme Federal court Justice Dias Toffoli and an investment fund now embroiled in allegations of fraud tied to Banco Master. The fund, Arleen Investment Fund, held stakes in companies connected to the Toffoli family while concurrently sharing investments with funds under scrutiny by the Central Bank for their role in a potentially elaborate financial scheme. This raises notable questions about potential conflicts of interest as Justice Toffoli currently presides over the inquiry into the Banco Master fraud, a case that has drawn attention from both the political and financial sectors. Further complicating matters, the fund’s liquidation timeline coincided with key developments in the Banco Master investigation.
Companies linked to relatives of Supreme Federal Court Justice Dias Toffoli were connected to an investment fund tied to a network of fraudulent financial practices associated with Banco Master, according to an analysis of official documents. The revelations come as Justice Toffoli presides over an inquiry into the very same alleged fraud at Banco Master, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest.
The Arleen Investment Fund, as of May 2025, held shares in Tayayá Administração e Participações, which owns a resort in Ribeirão Claro, Paraná, partially owned by the Toffoli family. Arleen also had a direct stake in DGEP Empreendimentos, a real estate development firm in the same city with a cousin of the Justice as one of its partners.
The connection to the Banco Master case stems from a chain of funds. Arleen was an investor in RWM Plus, which in turn received investments from funds linked to Maia 95, one of six funds flagged by the Central Bank as potentially involved in the alleged fraudulent scheme orchestrated by Banco Master and its principal, Daniel Vorcaro. Authorities have not identified the Arleen fund itself as a target of the investigation.
Both Arleen and the other funds within this network are administered by Reag, the same firm that managed funds connected to Vorcaro and is currently under investigation in “Operation Carbono Oculto” for suspected money laundering for the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), a major Brazilian criminal organization.
Requests for comment from the Supreme Federal Court, the Toffoli family, Reag, and Banco Master went unanswered as of publication.
Arleen, with only one remaining investor, was liquidated at the end of last year. A May 2025 balance sheet showed its four investments were in the two companies linked to the Toffoli family (Tayayá and DGEP), an unidentified holding company, and RWM Plus.
Investigators allege that a network of funds managed by Reag was used to divert funds borrowed by Banco Master, with the bank’s complicity. This involved applying loan proceeds to purchase assets, including distressed assets, to artificially inflate their value and engage in other questionable transactions.
Justice Toffoli became responsible for the Master fraud inquiry in early December after lawyers for Vorcaro appealed to the Supreme Federal Court, arguing the case should be centralized within the court due to the mention of a real estate deal involving Vorcaro and Congressman João Carlos Bacelar. The move to consolidate the case under the Supreme Court has drawn scrutiny from both the political sphere and the financial markets.
Toffoli has maintained secrecy surrounding the inquiry and has taken actions that have been questioned by observers. These include ordering a confrontation between those under investigation and a Central Bank director responsible for overseeing the banking system, with questions prepared by his office suggesting potential overreach by the Central Bank in liquidating Banco Master, echoing arguments made by Vorcaro’s defense team.
The Tayayá resort, inaugurated in 2008, has seen various members of the Toffoli family hold ownership stakes over the years. Located on the banks of the Itararé River, which separates Paraná and São Paulo, the four-star hotel spans 58,000 square meters.
In 2017, the Justice received an award from the local Chamber of Vereadores for “collaborating with the development and promotion of tourism in the Municipality of Ribeirão Claro, notably through decisive support in the establishment of Tayayá Aquaparque Hotel and Resort.”
Corporate records from 2020 show that Mario Umberto Degani, a cousin of the Justice, and lawyer Euclides Gava Junior controlled the company managing the resort.
In December 2020, José Carlos and José Eugênio Dias Toffoli, brothers of the Supreme Court Justice, became partners in the resort through the firm Maridt Participações, established four months prior. Degani, Gava, and Maridt each held a one-third stake in the business. The family has since divested its holdings.
As of April 2025, the most recent data available, the Tayayá was controlled by Paulo Humberto Barbosa and two companies linked to him, with Degani no longer holding a stake. Gava, who previously partnered with Degani, currently identifies himself as a director at Tayayá Resort on LinkedIn but declined to comment.
Information on company ownership is sourced from official databases compiled by the Abraji (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism) on the Cruza-Grafos platform. Details regarding the fund relationships are documented in filings with the CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission).
Created in 2021, Arleen held Tayayá shares from its inception, representing 99% of its portfolio in November of that year with a value of R$20 million. By May 31, 2025, its stake in Tayayá had decreased to R$4.4 million.
A second company linked to a relative of Toffoli appeared on Arleen’s May 2022 balance sheet, with a R$16.1 million stake in DGEP Empreendimentos. The cousin of Toffoli who also participated in Tayayá, Mario Umberto Degani, was also a partner in DGEP. As of May 2025, Arleen’s stake in DGEP was valued at R$16.4 million.
DGEP is a real estate development company with a registered address matching that of the Tayayá resort, and its creation utilized the email address [email protected].
Federal Police and Central Bank investigations point to the use of multiple funds to inflate the assets of Banco Master. A Police Federal operation based on these investigations led to the arrest of banker Daniel Vorcaro on November 18, as he prepared to leave the country.
Thirteen days prior, on November 5, an Arleen general assembly resolved to liquidate the fund two days later, on November 7. A subsequent assembly on December 1 postponed the liquidation to December 22. The fund, established in June 2021, had an initial projected lifespan of 20 years.
Documents filed with the CVM outline the connection between Arleen and one of the funds under investigation in the Master case. Maia 95, a focal point of the alleged fraud investigated by the Central Bank, holds shares in Murren 41, which in turn invested in Money Market. Both Money Market and Arleen held stakes in the same fund, RWM Plus.
In a May 2025 audit registered with the CVM, Next Auditores refrained from issuing an opinion on Arleen, citing a lack of corporate documentation, balance confirmations, and financial statements, indicating an inability to verify the fund’s accounts.
