Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared in Nova Iguacu on Thursday that the president's friend is the people, not former banker Daniel Vorcaro.
Lula made the remarks during an official event highlighting modernisation works along the Presidente Dutra Highway, one day after political rival Flavio Bolsonaro filed a criminal complaint against him at the Federal Supreme Court.
In his speech, the Workers' Party leader criticised what he described as a culture of governing for the benefit of allies. Lula insisted that public resources must go to the population regardless of political ties between leaders, arguing that state benefits must serve the people rather than personal friends.
Lula specifically named Vorcaro, the owner of Banco Master, while explaining that federal investments must also reach municipalities led by political opponents. He stressed that the gathering was an institutional act rather than an election campaign rally, pointing to investments worth billions of reais in infrastructure across the state of Rio de Janeiro, including improvements on the BR-116 federal motorway.
Supreme Court Criminal Complaint
The public denial came after legal representatives for Senator Flavio Bolsonaro submitted a criminal complaint to the Federal Supreme Court on Wednesday. The petition urges the court to open an inquiry into Lula for alleged passive corruption and administrative advocacy connected to Banco Master.
The document was forwarded directly to Justice Andre Mendonca. Senator Bolsonaro, who represents Rio de Janeiro for the Liberal Party and is running for president, based the filing on digital records extracted by the Federal Police from Vorcaro's mobile phone.
Police files include messages from Walfrido Warde, who served as Vorcaro's lawyer at the time, recounting conversations with Lula and senior members of the federal government. In one exchange from January 2025, Warde claimed that Lula had expressed thanks for a bottle of whisky provided by Vorcaro, one month after both men met at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia.
In Brazilian law, passive corruption covers public officials who demand or accept improper advantages, while administrative advocacy involves using a public position to advance private commercial interests before state agencies. Lawyers for Bolsonaro argue that receiving such a gift could constitute an illegal benefit and have asked authorities to investigate whether Lula offered any official favour in return.
Presidential Denial of Influence Allegations
The petition also accuses the president of using his position to favour the private interests of Vorcaro and Banco Master within the federal administration. The legal team asked the Supreme Federal Court to establish whether administrative actions were taken to benefit the financial institution following the contacts.
The Brazilian presidency firmly rejected the claims in a statement sent to CNN by the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic, known as Secom. The communications office stated that Lula did not receive any gift from Vorcaro, had no knowledge of any coordination by Warde, and had not been in contact with the former banker since December 2024.
Justice Mendonca now holds the petition at the Supreme Federal Court, the only judicial body empowered to oversee criminal investigations involving a sitting Brazilian head of state. The justice will review the complaint to decide whether to dismiss the request or instruct the Prosecutor General's Office to examine the allegations.
