The Banking Scandal That Could Bring Down Brazil’s President Lula
Banco Master created the biggest banking scandal in Brazil and its ramifications stretch all the way to Lula at the top.
On the morning of 18 June, federal police arrived at properties linked to Senator Jaques Wagner. Wagner is the leader of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s governing coalition in the Senate, a former governor of Bahia and a Workers’ Party loyalist of four decades’ standing.
The warrants were the ninth phase of an investigation into the collapsed bank, Banco Master. But while allegations of corruption have surrounded numerous politicians connected to Banco Master’s founder, Daniel Vorcaro, they are now reaching deep into Lula’s government.
Wagner denies wrongdoing and told the press that Lula had telephoned to express confidence in him.
However, this has hit Lula’s Workers’ Party at the worst possible time. The country is bracing for a bitterly contested general election in October, in which Lula, now 80, is facing a close challenge from far-right firebrand, Flavio Bolsonaro, son of the former president, Jair Bolsonaro.
