In the PF’s sights, Lulinha says he will return to Brazil when called by Mendonça
A Federal Police report pointed to signs that the move to Europe by Fabio Luis Lula da Silva, President Lula’s eldest son, could constitute an escape attempt. The information was revealed by the newspaper The State of S. Paulo and confirmed by Globe. Lulinha is currently living in Madrid, Spain. His lawyer and friend, Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, said that this PF thesis is an “irresponsible illusion” and made the president’s son available to return to Brazil and give a statement to investigators.
According to the defender, this intention was expressed by him to STF minister André Mendonça in a meeting that took place last week.
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— (Lulinha) will come when Mendonça calls, if he calls. I confirm that I made it available to Mendonça.
The Federal Police document dealing with a “possible evasion of the country” was sent to the Mendonça minister’s office in December 2025, at the same time that the PF also asked for Lulinha’s tax secrecy to be broken. A month later, Mendonça authorized the measure.
“From an investigative point of view, we assert that Lulinha traveled abroad, with no expected return, which denotes possible evasion from the country, considering it is associated with the facts associated with the main operator of billion-dollar fraud against millions of retirees in Brazil”, says an excerpt from the PF report, referring to the alleged relationship between Fabio Luis and the lobbyist Antônio Camilo Antunes, the “bald guy from the INSS”.
— This reveals a persecutory action that I imagined the Federal Police had freed itself from — said Marco Aurélio, adding that he will make a complaint to the corporation’s general director, Andrei Rodrigues.
The defender argued that Lulinha was scheduled to move to Spain in 2023 – before investigations into INSS fraud began. That year, according to the lawyer, the president’s son had gone to Madrid to look for property and enroll his children in school.
Lulinha’s definitive trip to Spain took place in the first half of 2025, when the first phase of Operation Without Discount was launched, which investigates the alleged scheme coordinated by the “bald guy from INSS”. A witness who was a partner of the bald man at INSS reported to the PF that Lulinha received an allowance of R$300,000 from Antunes. According to this person, the objective was to unlock business at the Ministry of Health. Fábio Luis’ defense says that this is a lie and that he never received any payment from the lobbyist.
Trip to Portugal
Last week, Lulinha’s defense admitted to the Supreme Court that he took a trip to Portugal alongside the lobbyist. The flight would have been paid for by Antunes, according to reports gathered in the investigation.
The president’s son’s defense explained that the displacement was a one-off and unrelated to the INSS fraud scheme.
— We have already brought to the attention of Minister André Mendonça this unique and exclusive trip in the company of someone who, at the time, was considered a successful businessman. This trip, to Portugal, was for him to visit a cannabidiol farm — said the lawyer.
