BRASILIA — The former presenter Luiz Bacci published at least four videos in the last month in which he criticizes the Banco Central (BC)defends the Banco Master and questions the decision that led to the liquidity of the institution controlled by Daniel Vorcaro. When contacted, he did not respond.
A series of communicators have embarked on a campaign to discredit the BC. In recent days, a councilor and an influencer reported having received proposals from communication agencies to produce content critical of the federal authority.
Luiz Bacci during the presentation of ‘Cidade Alerta’, from Record Photo: Reproduction of ‘Cidade Alerta’ (2024)/Record TV
On December 18, Bacci shared the news that the minister of the Federal Audit Court (TCU) Jhonatan de Jesus, rapporteur of the Master case at the Court, asked the BC for explanations about what he thought were signs of haste in Master’s liquidation.
It would be the first of four videos published on his Instagram account in which he raises suspicions about the smoothness of the process and suggests a plot to harm Vorcaro’s bank. Bacci has 24.1 million followers on the social network.
“Nobody was able to swallow something like a billion-dollar fraud where no customer even came forward to complain, saying that Banco Master owes them. How can someone carry out a billion-dollar fraud while subject to the rules of the Central Bank? Who was interested in liquidating a bank from one moment to the next? Who was interested in, overnight, simply liquidating a bank? There is suspicion of a political maneuver by some financial, political group, to destabilize Banco Master”, stated Bacci that day.
On December 29, he published another video in which he says that the settlement was carried out “in secret, in the dead of night”. Contrary to what he says, the BC’s analysis of the case lasted more than five months and the liquidation decision was communicated as soon as it was decreed.
“And this series of scandals involving the Central Bank? What is this? An unprecedented scandal that involves the silent liquidation, in the dead of night, involving the Master Bank. From what I understand, they suspect that there is a trick in the so-called Master Bank liquidation. If the TCU gave the Central Bank 72 hours to speak out, why is it silent? Why are there a lot of unanswered questions? What are you afraid of?”, he declared.
In the same publication, Bacci suggests political contamination by the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and raises suspicion, without evidence, in the definition of the economy’s basic interest rate, the Selic.
“Now, the Central Bank is a very credible institution. We want to believe that it is a reputable regulatory body. The president was chosen by Lula. How can it be the target of so much scandal? Soon the Brazilian population will become suspicious, and rightly so, if the very high interest rate, which continues to break records, is honest, if it is being defined in a transparent manner. Already the Brazilian people will start to think that there is a trick too”, he said.
The third video, published on January 1st, replicates the arguments given by Vorcaro to defend himself against the accusations, in a statement to the Federal Police. Bacci stated that, according to a source, “Vorcaro was emphatic, denied any type of irregularity, stated that there was no fraud, and that the facts disclosed so far are distorted and presented out of context.” And that “all Master operations were conducted in accordance with the rules.
Next, he raises doubts about the fact that, according to a report cited by Bacci, the Federal Police arrested Vorcaro 42 minutes after he announced the sale of Master to a fund, which would inject R$3 billion and solve the bank’s liquidity problem.
The short period of time between the events, according to government officials reported to the Estadão/Broadcastwas due to the suspicion that the proposal would be a “smoke bomb” to give the banker time to flee the country. Vorcaro was detained at Guarulhos airport, when he was preparing to travel to Dubai. According to his defense, it was a business trip.
The entire timeline of the process that led to the extrajudicial liquidation of Master, on November 18, was presented, for example, in the documentation that is with the TCU.
On January 5th, finally, Bacci opens another video questioning the reason for “all this hysteria against the opening of the Central Bank’s black box”. He says the institution compromises its credibility by “avoiding supervision” and creates an “environment of distrust”.
“The TCU is not doing anything debauched. It is doing the only worthy thing left in this country, turning on the lights. That’s precisely why cockroaches are running through the corridors. It’s the greatest confession of guilt, which they don’t want you to see”, he declared.
Smear campaign
The defamatory campaign against the BC brought to light accusations, defenses and a variety of agencies and communicators involved in the scandal.
Despite differences in the way the videos are spoken, the posts have elements in common. All influencers published content at the end of December, using the same content as a reference, which would be a possible review of the Master’s sale.
Another similarity is that, although adapted to the style of each profile, the discourse shared on social media suggests distrust about the actions of regulatory bodies and questions the “speed” of the decision – which, in fact, lasted more than five months. In none of the cases were the publications identified as advertising.
