BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO, May 7 (Reuters) – Brazil’s federal police on Thursday served a search and seizure warrant on Senator Ciro Nogueira as part of a widening probe into now-defunct lender Banco Master, according to a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday.
• Nogueira served as chief of staff to former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro from August 2021 to December 2022
• He is the head of the Progressives party and a sitting senator representing the state of Piaui
• Supreme Court Justice Andre Mendonca wrote in his decision that the police probe indicated Nogueira allegedly acted in favor of Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro “in exchange for undue economic advantages”
• Nogueira’s lawyers denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement he would cooperate with authorities and was at their disposal to provide clarification
• The warrant targeting Nogueira marks an escalation into the political sphere of the investigation into alleged corruption tied to Banco Master
• Master was liquidated in November amid a severe liquidity crisis, and its owner Vorcaro is under arrest
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
