Is Daniel Vorcaro in prison? His status today

Where he is held

Vorcaro is at the Papudinha, the name given to the 19th Battalion of the Federal District Military Police, inside the Papuda complex in Brasília. He was taken there on June 25, 2026, when Mendonça denied his request for house arrest and ordered him moved out of the Federal Police headquarters within 24 hours. The justice also ordered “absolute incommunicability” among the Compliance Zero detainees held in the same unit (Band, Diario de Pernambuco (Correio Braziliense)).

On October 25, 2026, he voted in the presidential runoff at a polling station set up inside the complex. Detainees without a final conviction keep the right to vote (Times Brasil).

Why he is in custody

Mendonça ordered the pretrial detention at the request of the Federal Police, in the third phase of Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates suspected fraud at Banco Master. In the same decision, he ordered a freeze of up to R$22 billion in assets linked to the group (Jornal do Brasil, Agência Pública).

When he denied house arrest in June, Mendonça kept the detention to reduce the risk of interference with evidence and of further moves to hide assets. The Federal Police said plea talks had ended on June 10, and prosecutors said there were no new facts justifying his release (Diario de Pernambuco (Correio Braziliense)).

On March 20, 2026, the Supreme Court's Second Panel upheld the detention 4–0 in a virtual session. Mendonça, Luiz Fux, Kassio Nunes Marques and Gilmar Mendes voted. Dias Toffoli declared himself disqualified and did not vote. Gilmar joined the result but stated reservations in his vote. The panel also upheld the detention of Fabiano Zettel, Vorcaro's brother-in-law, and of Marilson Roseno da Silva (InfoMoney, BandNews FM).

On October 28, 2026, the Federal Police sent the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General's Office a partial report naming Vorcaro and 14 others as suspects, including former BRB president Paulo Henrique Costa, for fraudulent management, criminal organization and money laundering. According to the police, Vorcaro was at “the decision-making center” of the scheme and its “main economic beneficiary”, and about R$2.7 billion in losses have already been recognized. The police asked for 60 more days to finish forensic work (Agência Brasil, Poder360).

Pretrial detention is a precautionary measure used during an investigation. It does not declare anyone guilty. See what is being investigated in Operation Compliance Zero.

History of arrests and releases

Sources: CNN Brasil, Band, Jornal do Brasil, InfoMoney, Band (2), Jornal de Brasília, Folha de Pernambuco / O Globo, Itatiaia, Times Brasil, Agência Brasil, CNN Brasil (2)

Pending release requests

On September 18, 2026, the defense asked Fachin to revoke the detention. The lawyers cited the crisis at the court and the lack of a decision on who is in charge of the case, since the files have been with the Supreme Court's presidency since September 12 (Jornal de Brasília, Metrópoles).

On October 8, they asked Fachin to have Mendonça rule on the request and said Vorcaro has been “in custody for more than eight months, without being indicted and without criminal proceedings”. That count is the defense's: the current pretrial detention, which began on March 4, reached seven months in October. Fachin had not responded when the reports were published (Folha de Pernambuco / O Globo, Metrópoles).

On October 15, after his testimony to the Federal Police about the dealings with BRB, the defense again asked for the detention to be revoked and the investigation closed (Itatiaia).

On October 28, after the police report, the defense said revoking the detention had become “urgent and imperative” (Metrópoles). The next day, it presented to the Supreme Court a private forensic report pointing to 657 files modified on Vorcaro's phone on November 18, 2025, hours after his arrest, while the device was already with the Federal Police. The report does not say who made the changes or conclude they were deliberate. The defense asked for access to the original extraction and chain-of-custody records, and for the detention to be replaced with other measures (CNN Brasil).

What could change his situation

• A ruling on the release request: it depends on Fachin deciding or returning the case to Mendonça.
• Charges by the Prosecutor General: the police report naming Vorcaro a suspect is already with prosecutors. If they file charges and the Supreme Court accepts them, he becomes a defendant, a criminal case opens and the detention is then argued in that case. There is no public deadline for that decision.
• The police deadline: the request for 60 more days of investigation is up to the rapporteur, André Mendonça.
• Plea deal: the Federal Police and prosecutors rejected both of Vorcaro's proposals and reaffirmed the rejection on October 9. See Vorcaro's plea deal.

This page is updated with every ruling on his detention.

Was Vorcaro released after the election?

No. On October 27, 2026, the Brazilian fact-checking site Boatos.org rated as false the message that Vorcaro had been released after Lula's victory. The posts presented an old SBT video showing Vorcaro leaving a detention center as if it were recent (Boatos.org).

What the defense says

The defense denies fraud and says the dealings with BRB were lawful (Itatiaia). On the police report, it calls it a “hasty and rash act” that anticipates conclusions the investigation itself has not reached, says “no official forensic report found any loss” to BRB, and argues the inquiry should be closed (Metrópoles). Vorcaro also says he was mistreated in Federal Police custody. These are his allegations; on October 27, the Chamber of Deputies' Public Security Committee approved a request to hear the Federal Police director-general on the matter (Wikipedia (EN), Revista Oeste).

Frequently asked questions