Brasília can sleep easily, thanks to Toffoli

As we reported last week, concern took hold within Brazil’s elite that investigators probing the links between organized crime and the formal economy might tug on threads leading uncomfortably close to powerful offices in Brasília and São Paulo. In recent days, those fears have eased somewhat.

What changed the atmosphere was the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli as the rapporteur for the sprawling investigation into Banco Master — a lender recently liquidated by Brazil’s Central Bank over reckless operations and fraudulent dealings.

The Master case had grown perilous for political elites. Its CEO, Daniel Vorcaro, spent years carefully building relationships with an array of high-profile figures, including party bosses such as Ciro Nogueira of the Progressives party and Antonio Rueda of the União Brasil party.