Brazilian Federal Police have opened an investigation into Digimais, a digital lender owned by evangelical bishop Edir Macedo, for alleged fraud.
The probe intensifies scrutiny on the institution just months after investment bank BTG Pactual confirmed an agreement to acquire the lender.
The development casts a shadow over the pending transaction, which was already facing significant hurdles.
Digimais has been embroiled in a severe liquidity crisis, with ratings agency Fitch recently downgrading the bank and explicitly warning that failure is a real possibility.
The downgrade marked the clearest signal yet of the deepening distress surrounding the institution, which has been linked to the broader crisis at Banco Master.
For BTG Pactual, the police investigation introduces a new layer of regulatory and reputational risk.