Brazil's Federal Police indict 48 officials in massive INSS pension fraud

Brazil's Federal Police (PF) concluded the first phase of Operation Sem Desconto and indicted 48 people for a scheme that illegally deducted monthly association fees from retirees and pensioners of the Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social (INSS). The alleged fraud, estimated at about R$ 6.3 billion between 2019 and 2024, involved former INSS president Alessandro Stefanutto, former INSS prosecutor‑general Virgílio Antônio Ribeiro Filho, former benefits director André Fidelis, businessman Antonio Carlos Camilo Antunes (known as “Careca”), and the president of the Confederação Nacional de Agricultores Familiares e Empreendedores Familiares Rurais (Conafer), Carlos Roberto Ferreira Lopes, among others.

The 265‑page report was sent to STF minister André Mendonça, the case’s rapporteur, who will forward it to the Procuradoria‑Geral da República (PGR) for possible charges. All accused are under preventive detention, except Lopes, who remains a fugitive. The investigation, which began in 2023 after the CGU uncovered irregularities, highlighted that “Em troca de sua omissão fiscalizatória deliberada recebeu propinas mensais recorrentes que alcançaram o patamar de R$ 250.000,00 mensais”. The PF stated the case is unrelated to ongoing inquiries about the president’s son.