PF finds amendments presented by Efraim Filho to PL do Carbono on Vorcaro’s cell phone

The content is contained in a PF report made public this Thursday (30) by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) André Mendonça. The document is part of the investigation that investigates possible relationships between Banco Master's interests and the parliamentary performance of senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), former leader of the Lula government in the Senate. Wagner was the target of search and seizure warrants on June 18, during the ninth phase of Operation Compliance Zero.

The proposals had been formally filed by Efraim on September 20, 2023. About a month later, on October 22, José Antonio Ramos Bittencourt, identified on Vorcaro's device as “José Antonio Carbono”, sent the files of amendments 26, 27 and 28 to Bill 412/2022 to the banker. He then stated: “The 3 amendments above are essential to be applied in the PL”.

According to the PF, Vorcaro's interest in the project is demonstrated by the conversations found on his cell phone. In addition to receiving the three amendments considered “fundamental” to the text, the banker asked the same interlocutor for reports on the Amazon Farm’s capacity to generate environmental assets, treated in the exchange of messages as “our project”. The researchers concluded that the dialogues reveal the interest of Vorcaro and Augusto Lima, then a partner at Master, in the regulation and commercialization of carbon credits.

On Augusto's cell phone, investigators found the legislative opinion on the project and a message from former minister Ronaldo Bento, who classified the proposal as “another project of our interest”. Augusto responded with a handshake emoji.

The police report does not indicate that Efraim sent the documents directly to Vorcaro, nor does it present conversations between the two. There is also no evidence in the material that the banker or his interlocutor participated in the preparation of the amendments. The finding reveals, however, that changes presented by the senator were followed and considered strategic by people linked to a private project for generating and selling carbon credits.

The investigation began with an analysis of the propositions presented, reported or supported by Jaques Wagner since he took office as senator, in 2019. The objective was to identify initiatives that could benefit Master, companies linked to the institution or its former controllers. In most of the selected articles, however, the PF stated that it did not find references in conversations extracted from cell phones.

Wagner took over as rapporteur for PL 412 in November 2022, but remained in the role for less than a month and left the post with the end of the legislature. When Efraim's amendments were presented, in September 2023, the rapporteur for the matter was already senator Leila Barros (PDT-DF). The report does not record direct contact between Wagner and Vorcaro related to the project, nor does it indicate the PT member's role in incorporating the three proposals into the text.

Flávio Bolsonaro received R$500,000 from a company linked to the consultancy that operated with Master

The Bolsonaro family is under investigation in the Master case due to payments made by former banker Daniel Vorcaro for the film "Dark Horse", about Jair Bolsonaro