Former Lula cabinet ministers roped into Master murmurs

Until recently, the political fallout from the Banco Master scandal had largely been confined to Brazil’s Big Center — the loose congressional bloc of right-of-center, patronage-fuelled political parties. But that changed after a remark by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, followed by a cascade of reports targeting his administration.

Speaking on Friday, Lula referred to Banco Master’s chief executive Daniel Vorcaro as “a man who carried out a BRL 40 billion [USD 7.5 billion] scam,” adding that “there are people who defend him for lack of any sense of shame.”

Just a few hours later, however, details surfaced in the press about a lucrative advisory contract between Banco Master and Guido Mantega, a former finance minister and a longtime Lula ally.