The owner of Banco Master, Daniel Vorcaro, has been arrested again in Brazil amid fresh allegations of illegal surveillance, corruption of central bank officials, and intimidation of critics. Federal police detained Vorcaro in São Paulo on Wednesday following a Supreme Court order, with assets worth R$22 billion (US$4.2 billion) frozen.

The arrests mark a dramatic escalation in the investigation into the collapsed midsized lender, which failed last year with estimated losses exceeding R$40 billion. Vorcaro, 42, had expanded Banco Master rapidly through high-yield savings certificates before Brazil's central bank ordered its liquidation in November. He was first arrested then while attempting to board a private jet.

Justice André Mendonça's ruling cited evidence of Vorcaro considering violence against an employee and journalist, plus payments to suspended central bank staffers for confidential information. The scandal has implicated high-level political connections and threatens to damage the credibility of Brazil's highest court, with Justice José Antonio Dias Toffoli stepping down from the case over conflicts of interest.