CLOCK OF SERVERS AND DEVES OF R $ 6.3 BI: WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT INSS FRAUD?

A week after the outbreak of the Operation without discount, new details reinforce the suspicion of collusion between INSS servers and associations investigated for applying irregular discounts on pensions. The joint action of the Federal Police (PF) and the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) points out that the scheme deflected up to R $ 6.3 billion between 2019 and 2024.

According to the investigation, frauds were committed by falsifying authorizations for discounts intended for associations that promised advantages such as discounts in gyms, services and attorney’s fees.

Understand, below, what is known so far about the case, according to information revealed by the PF.

Irregular unlocking contradicted decree

In October 2023, the INSS Benefit General Coordination of Benefits recommended the unlocking benefits for application of associative discounts. The measure contradicted a June 2020 decree, which requires personal and specific authorization from the beneficiary for this type of discount.

The following month, the INSS authorized the unlocking in a lot of 34,487 benefits. According to internal sources cited by the PF, the objective was to vent to a high volume of not processed requests for technical failures.

Evidence of irregularities

Between 2019 and 2023, there was a 2.011% jump in the volume of contributions to eight associations analyzed, while the average increase of all entities was 115%.

The PF also investigates deviations to travel, buffets and events, without bonding with union activities. Only in Contag, atypical financial movements totaled more than $ 26 million.

Use of money by private companies

The PF determines the destination of the resources obtained. Part was transferred to tourism, events and food companies that do not have a bond with union activities. Financial intelligence reports show atypical movements that exceed R $ 26 million, only in the case of Contag.

The investigation detected unusual concentration of associative discounts in cities with low HDI. In municipalities of Maranhão, Piauí and Pernambuco, more than 60% of the insured had the benefits impacted.

SUSPECTED SERVERS

The PF identified that former directors and people linked to the INSS received more than $ 17 million in transfers from intermediaries of the investigated associations. Among the cases pointed out:

• One of the benefited servers would have received a luxury car, valued at more than $ 500,000, registered on behalf of the wife of the INSS prosecutor Virgílio Oliveira Filho – removed by the court;
• People and companies linked to former Benefit Director André Paulo Félix Fidelis received R $ 5.1 million;
• Alexandre Guimarães, former INSS governance director, would have received $ 313,000.

The central figure of the scheme would be Antonio Carlos Camilo Antunes, known as “Careca do INSS”. According to the PF, it moved R $ 53.5 million in resources from unions and intermediate entities, in values ​​far higher than its formal income of R $ 24,400 per month. Reports indicate that money was quickly passed on to make tracking difficult.

The aforementioned deny the accusations and claim that they have not yet had access to the file.

Stefanutto performance

The then president of the INSS, Alexandre Stefanutto, dismissed after the operation, is also quoted. According to the PF, Stefanutto released mass discounts for Contag (National Confederation of Agriculture Workers) after meeting with representatives of the entity in June 2023, contrary to the internal opinion of the INSS Attorney’s Office and a 2020 decree.

In November, the INSS unlocked discounts in 34,487 benefits without proper individual authorization of the beneficiaries. Contag denies irregularities and claims to have acted “with ethics and responsibility”.

Lupi resists office

Despite the political wear and tear, the Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi, remains in office. Government members say he is not directly implied and “there is nothing against him” so far.

Lupi, who assumed Stefanutto’s entirely nomination, would have been warned of irregular discounts last year and admits delay to curb fraud but denies omission. Shortly after the case surfaced, the minister said he would not leave office, and his party, the PDT, left his defense, stating that “dismissing Lupi is dismissing the party,” indicating that the minister’s fall would result in the acronym of the government base.