Brazilian justice who imprisoned Bolsonaro now under fire for alleged links to disgraced banker

SAO PAULO (AP) — The Brazilian Supreme Court justice who sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for a coup attempt is now facing pressure to resign over alleged links to a disgraced banker.

Politicians, government ministers, newspapers and legal experts scrutinized Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday after federal police documents made public by one of his peers showed disgraced banker Daniel Vorcaro, the owner of Banco Master, repeatedly sought advice from a person authorities identified as de Moraes.

Investigators believe, according to the documents, that Vorcaro acted on different occasions based on advice from de Moraes. The banker also thanked the justice in replies to messages that police could not read and spoke about the alleged conversations in other messages with his friends.

The 10 members of the Supreme Court gathered in the capital Brasilia on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the revelations, but none of them addressed the situation. As usual, de Moraes sat next to Justice André Mendonca, who unsealed the documents. The two didn’t speak during the session, which focused on other cases.

But the pressure on de Moraes was on outside the court.

“As long as the justice remains on the bench, dishonor and discredit will continue to pile up on the court. The most dignified and swift course would be for the justice to resign. That would spare the country’s institutions unnecessary and prolonged damage,” Folha de S. Paulo daily said on Wednesday, adding the justice should be impeached by the Senate if he doesn’t choose to leave.

The allegations that led to the closing of Banco Master and jailing of its owner Vorcaro as he awaits trial have drawn scrutiny of several politicians ahead of October's elections. Several lawmakers, including opposition candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro and a historic ally of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , have been ensnared in the scandal.

Lula has not commented on the case, but Sen. Bolsonaro, who admitted to receiving at least $12 million from Vorcaro to sponsor a movie on his father’s life, said de Moraes “committed several crimes.”

“It is not acceptable, with all that has been revealed, that he continues to be a Supreme Court justice,” Sen. Bolsonaro said during a campaign event in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Other candidates also said they want de Moraes to leave the court.

The documents unsealed by Mendonca, who was appointed by former President Jair Bolsonaro, also showed de Moraes checked a contract between Vorcaro and his wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, worth 130 million Brazilian reais (about $26 million), which was already public.

Lawyers for de Moraes' wife said in a statement on Tuesday that the Supreme Court justice did check the document so he could be sure there was no conflict of interest with his position. The lawyers added de Moraes never ruled on cases involving Banco Master or Vorcaro.

De Moraes himself has not made comments about the findings.

Carlos Fávaro, a former agriculture minister under Lula and often regarded as a voice for the business sector, said on his social media channels that de Moraes has two options: clarify what happened or resign. Current government ministers have remained silent.

Brazil's Supreme Court would have to vote to determine whether de Moraes can be formally investigated and when. Those decisions would be up to Mendonca, who chairs the case, and Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin.

Fachin said during a ceremony before the afternoon session of the court that he will announce the next measures in the coming days after analyzing the facts and following the correct procedures.

“In moments of particular gravity, it is everyone’s duty to preserve the integrity of the Supreme Court, the authority of its decisions, respect for its rules and, above all, society’s trust in the institution,” Fachin said.