The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian financial provider yesterday asserted it is a “victim” of Brazil’s largest-ever bank fraud amid allegations that itself, and a network of locally-domiciled investment funds, were used to “improperly dissipate” $430m in misappropriated monies.

Robert Jensen, president of Mosaic Financial, in an e-mailed response to Tribune Business inquiries, said “our reputation is spotless” and that the Caves Village-based provider, its affiliates, owners and employees “had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal activity” in the Banco Master scandal. He hit out after Eduardo Felix Bianchini, Banco Master’s Brazilian liquidator, in an October 7, 2026, lawsuit filed in the south Florida federal bankruptcy court, alleged that Mosaic Financial and an investment fund it oversaw played a key role in facilitating the diversion of funds misappropriated by the bank’s principal, Daniel Vorcaro.

Mr Bianchini is alleging that, in just two-and-a-half years up to October 2025 , Mr Vorcaro and his associates used a complex web of Bahamian investment funds to “unlawfully and fraudulently” transfer a total $430m to Mosaic Short Duration Fund, which purportedly shares the same address as Mosaic Financial’s Caves Village office.

Some $169m of those funds, the Banco Master liquidator is claiming, were ultimately used to acquire high-end multi-million dollar properties in Miami and Aspen, Colorado, and his bankruptcy court action is seeking to seize and take control of these assets so as to recover monies due to the Brazilian bank’s creditors and other victims.

The lawsuit, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, alleges that Mosaic Financial “used to manage” Mr Vorcaro’s assets, and that millions of dollars taken from Banco Master flowed through, and were transferred between, client accounts established by the Bahamian financial services provider and its affiliates at US financial institutions such as Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNYM).

Mr Bianchini is also claiming that Mosaic Short Duration Fund entered into “sham transactions”, including a purported $350m loan agreement with an entity called Mosaic Group LLC, which enabled monies misappropriated from Banco Master to be advanced for the acquisition of the US properties he is now targeting.

Brad Jensen, Mosaic’s chairman, allegedly vouched for Mr Vorcaro’s “integrity and honesty” in an April 20, 2020, letter that purportedly opened further financial services industry doors for the Banco Master mastermind. And Mr Bianchini further alleged that David Garff, Mosaic’s chief executive, previously allowed Mr Vorcaro to use his “personal credit card” for purchases of up to $100,000 per month.

The letter, though, will have been written by Brad Jensen at a time when Mr Vorcaro was still held in high regard in Brazil, having himself stepped in to rescue Banco Master’s distressed predecessor, Banco Maxima, and before all the fraud-related claims emerged. And neither Mosaic Financial, nor its owners, directors or employees, are named as defendants in Mr Bianchini’s south Florida bankruptcy court action.

Robert Jensen, in his response to Tribune Business, blasted the “false allegations” made against Mosaic Financial while suggesting that they need to be viewed as part of the increasing competition Mr Bianchini faces in the race to trace, seize and realise Banco Master assets for the benefit of defrauded victims and creditors.

The Mosaic president revealed that the Mosaic Short Duration Fund has already been placed into receivership by The Bahamas’ Supreme Court, and argued that Mr Bianchini’s south Florida litigation is nothing more than “a riposte” to this and an attempt to “circumvent” this nation’s judicial system in the fight to secure Banco Master assets.

Rob Jensen signalled that the Brazilian Banco Master liquidator should stand back, and allow the Bahamian receiver for Mosaic Short Duration Fund to take control of the US properties and other assets. He revealed that Jerome Gomez, president, chief executive and managing director of Global Corporate Management, has been appointed as the receiver.

Mr Gomez, an ex-PLP senator, confirmed to Tribune Business yesterday that he has been appointed as Mosaic Short Duration Fund’s receiver but is still in the early stages of his work. “I am the receiver for it. I have just been appointed,” he said. “I’m not fully up to speed on all the issues yet. Just going through everything now.”

Robert Jensen, in his response to Mr Bianchini’s lawsuit, blasted: “Mosaic Financial, its affiliates, owners or employees had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal activity that took place at Banco Master in Brazil. We were victims of the Banco Master scandal. 

“From our perspective, the liquidator’s US lawsuit appears to be nothing more than a riposte to the receivership Order recently made by the Bahamas Supreme Court in relation to Mosaic Short Duration Fund, which presently controls the properties. Jerome Gomez has been appointed receiver of the fund. 

“The Bahamian Supreme Court receivership Order was entered to ultimately ensure the assets of the Mosaic Short Duration Fund are distributed to the persons lawfully entitled to them,” he added. 

“The liquidator’s US action is an attempt to circumvent the effect of the Bahamian Supreme Court’s receivership Order and an attempt to allow the liquidator to take control of the properties instead. The recent lawsuit is purely tactical. The false allegations made against Mosaic must be viewed in that light.”

A similar cross-border fight for assets and control took place over the FTX crypto currency exchange’s collapse, which pitted the Bahamian liquidators for FTX Digital Markets against US-based John Ray, who controlled FTX Holdings, for a year until it was settled and both parties worked out a co-operation agreement.

Robert Jensen, meanwhile, also suggested there are limits on Mr Bianchini’s powers. “Under Brazilian law, we understand that it is clear the first claim over any assets is for the benefit of the people of Brazil through the public prosecutor’s office - not the liquidator. The liquidator does not represent the public interest in Brazil,” he asserted.

“The public interest comes before private creditors represented by the liquidator according to law in Brazil. The liquidator was told this in writing by the Supreme Court of Brazil. He is allowed to find assets, but he cannot take assets.

The US proceedings commenced by the liquidator should be paused until the Supreme Court in Brazil clarifies the scope of the liquidator’s authority and powers,” Rob Jensen added. 

“The liquidator should respect the Bahamian Supreme Court receivership Order, and he should respect the limits of his authority under Brazilian law.  

“The Mosaic group of companies is valued at more than $100m. We have been in business for more than 40 years. We advise on tens of billions of dollars’ worth of assets. Our reputation is spotless. We repeat: Mosaic is also a victim.”

Mr Bianchini, in his south Florida lawsuit, repeated allegations that Mr Vorcaro and his associates defrauded Banco Master through transactions where its funds were used to purchase inflated “assets” of little to no value from third-party entities that they also controlled.

Some $430m ultimately found its way to Mosaic Short Duration Fund from a web of other Bahamas-domiciled investment funds - Liquidity Strategies Fund, OGP LatAM Investment Ltd, and Entre Investments and Arbitrage Ltd. All these vehicles were said to be controlled by Brazilian associates of Mr Vorcaro.

“One specific structure created and employed by Vorcaro and his co-conspirators to dissipate Banco Master’s assets involved the Mosaic Short Duration Fund SAC (segregated accounts company), a Bahamian mutual fund situated at West Bay Street, PO Box SP- 63771, New Providence, The Bahamas,” the Banco Master liquidator alleged.

“Upon information and belief, the Mosaic Short Duration Fund, which was formed in September 2020, was created to hold and/or further transfer funds that had been unlawfully and fraudulently dissipated from Banco Master.

“Specifically, as part of this scheme, funds dissipated from Banco Master were routed through a series of entities controlled by - and operating for the benefit of - Vorcaro and his co-conspirators, and were ultimately transferred to the Mosaic Short Duration Fund, which would then further transfer and/or deploy those funds through a variety of fraudulent transactions for the ultimate benefit of Mr Vorcaro and his co-conspirators.”

And Mr Bianchini further claimed: “The purpose of the Mosaic Short Duration Fund was to hold funds obtained from the fraudulent scheme against Banco Master, conceal the source of those funds, and otherwise launder the proceeds through transactions…. that resulted in the transfer of millions in laundered funds into the US, [and] were designed to appear legitimate but lacked any economic substance and, in many instances, allowed Mr Vorcaro to directly benefit from the use of those improperly-diverted assets.

“In furtherance of the foregoing scheme, in the less than three-year period from April 2024 through October 2025, Mosaic Short Duration Fund received more than $430m in funds that were improperly dissipated from Banco Master, much of which was further dissipated via transfers using US bank accounts.”

The Banco Master liquidator added that $5m was transferred by Mr Vorcaro’s associates directly to Mosaic Financial, which “used to manage Vorcaro’s assets, intending to maintain the assets of these structures for the benefit of Vorcaro”. Of that $5m, some $1m was used to allegedly settle Mr Vorcaro’s credit card expenses.

Asserting that Mr Vorcaro is “the ultimate beneficial owner of the Mosaic Short Duration Fund structure and all the assets underlying it”, including the US real estate acquisitions he is now targeting, Mr Bianchini alleged that the monies injected into the Bahamian investment fund were routed via “sham transactions” to facilitate these purchases.

He singled out an April 9, 2024, loan agreement between Mosaic Short Duration Fund and an entity called Mosaic Group, in which the former agreed to advance the latter up to $350m for unspecified “investment purposes”. These monies, Mr Bianchini alleged, were used to finance the property purchases, with both real estate assets contained in structures “wholly-owned” by two Bahamian companies, Clear River Ltd and Goldbeach Ltd.

The $350m loan agreement, the Brazilian liquidator further claimed, was signed on behalf of Mosaic Short Duration Fund by Bahamas-based Mosaic Financial executive, Cira Davis, who is named on the company’s website as one of its managing directors. Mr Bianchini alleged that those involved knew “the ultimate purpose of the transactions”, and that the Bahamian provider “maintained large accounts” for multiple entities linked to Mr Vorcaro.

“The loan agreement provides for the transfer of $350m to an entity, Mosaic Group, which does not appear from the loan documents to have had any assets or business operations other than those received from the Mosaic Short Duration Fund and, indeed, was formed shortly prior to the Mosaic Short Duration Fund,” Mr Bianchini alleged.

“Numerous very large transfers made in connection with the Clear River transfers and the Goldbeach transfers were made at or about the same time as known transfers involving the dissipation of funds to Mosaic Short Duration Fund, and all transfers identified were processed through the same Mosaic Financial client account that was used to effectuate those transactions, suggesting a common scheme and mechanism for funding.

“The Loan agreement and various documents executed in connection therewith were signed by individuals, including Cira Davis (on behalf of Mosaic Short Duration Fund, and Brad Jensen and Lori Webb on behalf of Mosaic Group.”

Mr Bianchini is claiming all parties “had knowledge of the ultimate purpose of the transactions and transfers at issue, as they either had personal ties to Vorcaro, personal involvement in the prior acquisition of other material assets on Vorcaro’s behalf, which were also acquired through the use of funds held in third-party accounts at Mosaic, and/or ties to Bahamian-based Mosaic Financial and/or certain of its affiliates”.

These companies, he added, “at all relevant times maintained large accounts for numerous entities believed to be implicated in Vorcaro’s fraud… and knew that Vorcaro was the beneficiary of these transactions, although he was not listed as an official member or beneficial owner of the Mosaic Short Duration Fund, Mosaic Group or Clear River and/or Goldbeach.

“Indeed, Brad Jensen, who is listed as chairman of Mosaic on the company’s website, signed a personal letter of reference for Mr Vorcaro, dated as of April 20, 2020, which vouched for Mr Vorcaro’s ‘integrity and honesty’ to the Kodiak Trust Company which, upon information and belief, subsequently became trustee of Mr Vorcaro’s family trust, the Fortress Legacy Trust, which was funded largely through transfers made from accounts maintained by entities associated with the fraud with Mosaic Financial.

“In addition, David Garff, who is listed as the chief executive of Accuvest Global Advisors, an entity which upon information and belief is affiliated with Mosaic, also allowed Mr Vorcaro to use a personal credit card that was in Mr Garff’s own name during the period in which Mr Vorcaro was defrauding Banco Master, which Mr Vorcaro used to make extravagant purchases which, at times, exceeded $100,000 in a single month.”

Mr Bianchini alleged that the $350m loan agreement involving Mosaic Short Duration Fund did not feature commercial terms suggesting it was an “arm’s length transaction”, since Mosaic Group - as borrower - was given a seven-year grace period of no interest or principal repayments until April 9, 2031. That period could be extended for a further year, and there was also “an immediate negative pledge” of all Mosaic Group assets to guarantee the loan.

The lawsuit also noted that at least $17m allegedly misappropriated from Banco Master was transferred into the Mosaic Short Duration Fund via another Bahamian investment fund, the Phoenix MultiMarket Fund, from a Cayman Islands structure said to be controlled by one of Mr Vorcaro’s associates.

Tribune Business understands that the Securities Commission, the Bahamian investment fund and capital markets regulator, is “monitoring very closely” the fall-out from the Banco Master scandal on the local financial services industry.

Christina Rolle, its executive director, declined to comment when contacted by Tribune Business, but did confirm that the Securities Commission had given its consent for a winding-up petition related to another Banco Master-linked Bahamas investment fund to proceed.

That is FAEX Fund Ltd, set-up in The Bahamas as a SMART (specific mandate alternative regulatory test) fund on February 20, 2017, and which allegedly sits at the head of a complex “money laundering web” used to misappropriate some $1.618bn from the Brazilian bank.

“The Commission was aware of it prior to it being put into liquidation, and agreed for the winding-up by the Supreme Court to proceed. We were aware,” Ms Rolle said.

Tribune Business understands that the FAEX Fund Ltd winding-up petition was heard by Sir Ian Winder, the chief justice, on Thursday, October 8, 2026, and that the way is clear for it to proceed as a full Supreme Court-supervised liquidation.

Veteran Bahamian forensic accountant, John Bain, now of Grant Thornton (Bahamas), had been appointed as FAEX’s joint provisional liquidator, working with co-provisional liquidators, Kevin Hellard of Grant Thornton UK and John Skelton of Grant Thornton BVI. They will now likely become full liquidators.

The full Banco Master blow-up comes just as The Bahamas, its regulators and financial services industry prepare to undergo the fifth mutual evaluation of their anti-financial crime regime and defences by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) between October 19-30.

The Bahamas has increasingly targeted the Latin American market, and especially Brazil, for international financial services business in recent years and created several product structures and services targeted at that nation’s wealthy investor base and civil law heritage - first the investment condominium (ICON), and now the usufruct that was heavily promoted at the recent Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) conference in Sao Paulo.