US court orders crypto firm that received nearly €470 million from Banco Master to hand over records

A United States court has ordered One World Services (OWS) to provide detailed information on transactions involving Banco Master, a Brazilian bank that sent US$ 531 million — roughly €470 million at current conversion — to the cryptocurrency platform between 2018 and 2021. At the time, the institution was still called Banco Máxima, but it was already under the control of Daniel Vorcaro.

The request was made by the bank's liquidator and authorised by Judge Scott M. Grossman of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to the newspaper Estadão. The order sets out 16 requirements for documents and information, including contracts with Daniel Vorcaro and companies linked to him, records of services provided, assets under custody, financial flows, the origin of the funds, and communications via apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and iMessage.

The aim is to trace the path of the money and clarify whether the funds sent to OWS belonged to Banco Master's own assets or to clients of the institution. The investigation is also seeking to identify possible links between the platform's operations and companies connected to Vorcaro's group.

Asked for comment by Estadão, Vorcaro's defence team said it would not comment. OWS Brasil also did not respond to a request for an interview.

OWS was already under investigation in Brazil

The relationship between Banco Master and OWS had already come onto the radar of Brazilian authorities. In February, Portal do Bitcoin reported that Brazil's Federal Police were examining foreign-exchange transactions carried out by the bank for One World Services, which is under investigation on suspicion of money laundering for criminal organisations, including the PCC and Hezbollah.

Banco Master made the transfers between December 2018 and April 2021. OWS operated as an over-the-counter (OTC) desk, selling crypto assets directly to large clients, outside the traditional model of exchanges open to the public.

According to the Federal Police investigation, the firm allegedly used accounts held at Banco Master to acquire cryptocurrencies on behalf of individuals and companies later convicted of money laundering, without submitting all the documentation required by Brazil's central bank, the Banco Central do Brasil, for foreign-exchange transactions of this kind.

In Banco Master's specific case, 331 transactions were identified as justified by a capital increase at an OWS offshore entity in Miami. Under the rules in force at the time, each transaction required a corporate resolution proving the capital contribution, but only 15 such resolutions were reportedly submitted to the authorities. The Federal Police also flagged indications that the transfers had been improperly classified, which would have reduced the tax rate (IOF) applied to the transactions.

OWS was also targeted by Operation Colossus, launched in 2022, which is investigating suspected multi-billion transactions involving crypto assets. Across the combined investigations, the Federal Police is tracking flows totalling 60 billion reais, of which 8 billion reais relates to foreign-exchange transactions alone.

One of the names associated with the case is the broker Dante Felipini, known as “Criptoboy”, identified as a client and partner of OWS. He was sentenced in 2025 to 17 years in prison for money laundering and criminal association.

Tracing effort advances abroad

The new order from the US court extends the liquidator's effort to locate assets and reconstruct the flow of funds linked to Banco Master abroad. The newspaper Folha de S.Paulo had already reported that EFB Regimes Especiais, the bank's liquidator in Brazil, had been stepping up efforts to trace assets held by Vorcaro, his family members and business partners in the United States.

On another front, the liquidator's lawyers filed subpoenas with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida to obtain contracts, deeds, bank account records, messages and the trail of money used to purchase properties linked to companies associated with the former banker's circle. Those requests also cover the period from January 2018 onward.

The move against OWS adds a crypto dimension to the investigation. It seeks to establish whether the multi-billion foreign-exchange transfers made by Banco Master were used to purchase digital assets abroad, and whether there were deliberate compliance and control failures in the transactions.

The difficulty of tracing structures in the United States has also increased following a recent regulatory change. In August, the Trump administration finalised a rule exempting US companies and citizens from reporting beneficial-ownership information to FinCEN, the US Treasury unit responsible for combating financial crime. The measure reverses part of the requirements created by a 2021 law aimed at tackling money laundering and illicit financing.

Critics of the decision say the reduced transparency could make it easier to use shell companies to conceal funds. The US Treasury says the change removes a requirement it considers burdensome for millions of business owners without compromising national security.

In Banco Master's case, the search for information from OWS could prove decisive in clarifying the destination of nearly €470 million sent abroad. Beyond confirming that the transfers took place, the investigation is trying to answer a central question: whether the money used in these transactions belonged to the bank itself, to its clients, or to structures linked to the group that controlled the institution.

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