Brazil police seize R$100 million INSS fraud against indigenous beneficiaries

On Thursday, July 9, Brazil's Federal Police (PF) and the Controladoria‑Geral da União (CGU) launched an operation in the southern Bahia municipalities of Eunápolis and Porto Seguro to dismantle a scheme that defrauded the National Institute of Social Security (INSS). Eleven search and seizure warrants were executed, two public servants were suspended, and authorities seized more than R$1.5 million in bank accounts and confiscated a vehicle.

The investigation, a continuation of Operation Monã, uncovered a network that used false declarations of indigenous community membership to obtain special‑beneficiary benefits such as rural retirement pensions, maternity salaries and other payments. The fraud is estimated to have caused losses exceeding R$100 million to public coffers. The suspects face charges of criminal association, previdenciary fraud, and both active and passive corruption.