Justice André Mendonça of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court moved Tuesday to suspend Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues and intelligence chief Leandro Almada, accusing the two of leading an “illegal espionage network” and conducting “systematic surveillance” against him. Within 24 hours, Justice Flávio Dino reversed the order, warning that removing the police leadership through outside intervention would create “administrative chaos” and cause “irreparable damage” to urgent cases. The reversal left the federal police leadership in place but left the two justices publicly at odds weeks before Brazilians go to the polls.
The underlying dispute traces to the Federal Police investigation into the collapse of Banco Master, a multibillion-dollar financial fraud case that Brazilian outlet g1 reported has reached figures across Brazil’s political spectrum. According to a report Mendonça released, banker Daniel Vorcaro — connected to the Banco Master case — sought protection and intervention from Justice Alexandre de Moraes and from the Federal Police chief in an effort to halt investigations against him. De Moraes gained international attention for rulings that barred former President Jair Bolsonaro from holding public office.
The dispute now sits at the intersection of multiple proceedings on Mendonça’s docket. Beyond the Banco Master matter, Mendonça participates in proceedings tied to the alleged 2023 coup attempt and is examining suspected fraud in Brazil’s pension system, a case in which one of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s sons has been linked. He is also the first justice appointed to the Supreme Federal Court by Bolsonaro, a fact that has focused public scrutiny on his decisions.
The Federal Police itself is now inside the political contest. The agency is headed by Rodrigues, a close ally of Lula who coordinated the president’s campaign security. At the same time, the Federal Police is responsible for investigating suspicious financial transactions involving people close to the Bolsonaro family, as well as possible irregularities reaching the president’s own inner circle. Lula publicly adopted a cautious posture toward Mendonça’s order, but his administration privately characterized the removal of Rodrigues as “undue interference” in the executive branch’s authority, according to CNN Brasil.
The series of accusations — corruption, influence peddling, political persecution — has divided Brazil’s highest court, the UPI report said. El País reported that the presidential race between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro has tightened and that judicial decisions have increasingly become political ammunition for both campaigns. With the Banco Master probe, the coup-attempt proceedings, and the pension-fraud inquiry all active simultaneously, the court has become an arena where the country’s political contests are playing out in public, El País reported.