The Brazilian government announced on Wednesday, April 23, investigating alleged national fraud in which it is suspected that associations and unions have stolen money from retirees by participating in their pensions.
Five officials were suspended and the head of the National Social Security Institute (INSS) was eliminated from their duties, as part of this case that arises, while the government of President Luiz Inacio Da Silva faces a sharp fall in popularity.
Police also announced the arrest of three suspects on Wednesday and said they are looking for three fugitives.
Around $ 1.1 billion taken between 2019 and 2024
The Office of the General Controller, responsible for combating state corruption, said it had detected unauthorized direct debit on pension payments, taken by associations and unions for services to which many retirees declare that they have never been signed.
The survey is related to 6.3 billion reais (approximately $ 1.1 billion) made between 2019 and 2024, with the alleged help of Public officials of INSS, which manages pensions. An indefinite part of this amount could have been eliminated illegally.
Many retirees interviewed by the researchers said their signature had been falsified. At the beginning of 2024, the samples subject to the survey referred to 5.4 million retirees, according to the authorities.
“Research refers to fraud aimed at retirees, people who (…) are naturally vulnerable and have been easy victims of these criminals,” Journalists from Brasilia said to the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski.
The Police held more than 200 searches on Wednesday and entered assets of an estimated value of around $ 175 million.
The authorities are investigating crimes such as corruption, falsification of documents, organized crime and money laundering.
Several cases of fraud in recent years
Fraud would find its origins in 2016, during the mandates of former presidents Michel Temer (2016-2018) and Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), as well as that of Lula, who assumed the position in January 2023.
This is the second corruption scandal to attack the government of the president of the left in recent weeks.
At the beginning of April, the Minister of Communications Justcelino Filho resigned after being accused of accepting bribes when he was deputy in 2022, before the start of Lula’s current mandate, the positions he rejected.
The Lula government is also criticized for recently granted asylum to the former first lady of Peru Nadine Heredia, sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering as part of a corruption scandal.
Corruption issues are a sensitive issue for Lula. Although Justice finally canceled his sentences that earned him 580 days in prison in 2018 and 2019, a significant part of the Brazilian electorate says that a corrupt politician can see in him.
Source: BFM TV
