The founder of Banco Master orchestrated a scheme to conceal ties with the betting company Bet.Bet.
Daniel Vorcaro, founder of Banco Master, discussed with Luiz Rennó, the institution's former legal director, ways to conceal his involvement in the Bet.Bet betting platform after the Ministry of Finance demanded the identification of the ultimate beneficiary of a fund linked to the business. Messages recovered from the former banker's cell phone by the Federal Police reveal the arrangement, which took place between the end of September and the beginning of October 2024, according to a report by VALOR.
The exchanges were obtained by Valor and show Rennó instructing Vorcaro to formally withdraw from the corporate structure. “You can’t show up and we’ll have to inform you who the ultimate beneficiary is!”, wrote the then legal director on Tuesday (September 30th). Days later, he concluded: “You have to disappear from there”.
Vorcaro indirectly held 30% of Bet.Bet through Bet Participações, whose partner was the FIP (Investment Fund in Participations) Oracle, managed by Reag, which was liquidated extrajudicially by the Central Bank. Following a request from the Treasury, documents presented to the ministry indicated Adriano Garzon Correa, a customs broker from Nova Lima (MG) and Vorcaro's partner in other companies, as a shareholder of Oracle.
Behind the scenes of the cover-up.
On Thursday (September 27th), Rennó alerted Vorcaro about regulatory pressure: “At Oracle, we need to change the ultimate beneficiary because the Ministry of Finance wants to know who it is!” He then asked the banker if he had any suggestions for a replacement or if he should look for “someone trustworthy.” The following day, he was more direct: “We need to remove the ultimate beneficiary—just tell me who you would like to put in and I will handle it.” Rennó added that it would be necessary to open an account at another institution and considered it inconvenient to open it at Reag or Banco Master itself.
Vorcaro's interest in Bet.Bet predated this crisis. In July 2024, before the platform's launch, the banker was already referring to the business as "our bet" and reported a revenue of R$ 5 million per day. "Our bet," "Bet.bet," "Hasn't even launched yet," "It's making 5 million a day," he wrote in the messages.
Financing and exit
On Friday (October 4th), Rennó tried to reassure Vorcaro about the future of the business: “The business will run clean! Legal and financial aspects are ours! We'll put a trustworthy person in charge! You can rest assured!”. Vorcaro replied that he had “mixed feelings about the bet”.
The conversations also record the negotiations to finance the participation. On Tuesday (10/15), Rennó proposed making the contribution via convertible debentures and, a week later, confirmed having received the bond issuance. On Tuesday (10/28), he requested the transfer of funds: “Debenture ready! Now you just need to transfer the funds.”
In November, the messages shifted to discussing the financial requirements for the betting company's authorization. Rennó asked Vorcaro if it had been agreed that "the investor would pay the grant and contribute the remainder starting in January." Vorcaro questioned: "30 million?" Rennó replied: "30+5." The amount of R$ 30 million coincides with the amount established by the government for granting licenses to betting companies; the destination of the additional R$ 5 million cannot be determined from the messages. In December, Rennó proposed increasing a Bank Credit Note (CCB) to R$ 21 million for the purpose of capital integration.
In February 2025, the outcome came in a message exchange. Vorcaro asked: “How did the bet go, huh?”. Rennó replied: “We left the bet! I'm formally withdrawing our funds by next month! Forget about the bet.”
