PF, investigation into INSS scandal to be partially completed this month

Brazil's Federal Police (PF) announced that it has reached a critical stage in a large-scale investigation, dubbed 'Operation Without Discount' (Operação Sem Desconto), regarding illegal deductions made to the National Social Security Institute (INSS). Police officials stated that the final reports regarding the operation, conducted over allegations of unauthorized association deductions from retirement and pension payments, will be prepared this month and submitted to the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF). Although the investigation continues on many different fronts, it was emphasized that files regarding suspects still in detention need to be closed as a priority due to statutory time limits.

The Director of the Police's Department for Combating Criminal Organizations and Corruption, Dennis Cali, announced that parts of the investigation that have reached sufficient maturity in terms of the material elements of the crime and the identification of perpetrators will be reported. Cali, noting that the operation spans a very wide area and evidence is being examined with great care, emphasized that reports for which legally sufficient evidence has been established will be submitted to the Supreme Court very soon. This step marks the transition of the first concrete results of the investigation into the legal process.

Federal Police Director Andrei Rodrigues reported regarding the magnitude of the operation that nine different phases have been carried out so far, involving 419 search and seizure warrants. Rodrigues stated that the amount of evidence seized is very high and approximately 40% of it has been analyzed, adding that 27 people are currently in custody. He expressed that intense work is being done to complete the investigation regarding these individuals before legal deadlines expire and to submit conclusion reports about them.

The investigation targets not only the general structure but also specific names; in this context, it was reported that one of the most attention-grabbing names is businessman Fábio Luís Lula da Silva (Lulinha), son of the Workers' Party's former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. There are witness statements regarding Lulinha that Antônio Carlos Camilo Antunes (Careca do INSS), known as the INSS lobbyist, transferred approximately 300 thousand Reais (approximately 60 thousand dollars) in cash every month. Upon these allegations, Lulinha's banking confidentiality was allowed to be broken, but the police management avoided detailed comments on this specific situation, stressing that the main focus was the general corruption scheme.

Director Rodrigues also responded to criticisms that the investigation regarding Lulinha and other names proves the institution's impartiality, stating that the Federal Police protects or follows no one and acts solely based on the evidence in hand within the legal framework. As the Police continues its efforts to uncover other perpetrators and other organized parts of the fraud network regarding illegal deductions at the INSS, it is eagerly awaited how the reports to be submitted to the Supreme Court in the coming days will shape the legal process.