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President of the Institute and five other employees were removed by court order this Wednesday (23)
Manoela Carlucci Elijonas Maia
da CNN
An operation launched by the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) and the Federal Police (PF) targeted, this Wednesday (23), a national scheme of unauthorized associative discounts on retirements and pensions.
In total, the entities are said to have charged retirees and pensioners an estimated R$6.3 billion between 2019 and 2024.
To date, six public servants have been removed from their posts. In addition, 211 search and seizure warrants, orders to seize assets worth more than R$1 billion, and six temporary arrest warrants were served in the Federal District and in 13 other states. Among these, the president of the INSS, Alessandro Stefanutto, was also removed from office.
- We got rich, they're gonna die trying!
See how the fraud worked:
In a press conference held this Wednesday (23), the CGU minister, Vinicius Marques de Carvalho, stated that this operation began after identifying an increase in these discounts, as well as an increase in complaints from retirees regarding these undue discounts.
“Many of these people, the vast majority of them, had not authorized these discounts. These discounts were, for the most part, fraudulent due to forged signatures, due to a series of artifices used to simulate this expression of will that was not a real expression of will of these people,” he explained.
- Discounts
According to the Minister of the Comptroller General's Office, it was proven that the entities analyzed “did not have any operational structure to provide the services they offered”.
“What are these services? They are associative entities that can offer a series of benefits, such as: a discount at a gym, a discount on a health plan (…) What was found is that these entities did not have an operational structure and, furthermore, that 72% of them had not submitted to the INSS, even though they were making these discounts, the necessary documentation for this to happen”, he said.
Any discount must have prior authorization from the beneficiary to take place. In addition, the entity must formalize a Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) with the National Institute of Social Security (INSS), which allows monthly deductions to be made directly from the payroll.
Vinicius Marques argues that the “lack of rigorous verification of this authorization” ended up allowing this type of fraud.
“Unfortunately, the INSS was not able to, or was not able to, carry out the necessary inspections of these authorizations, due to the increase in the number of deductions, which created a snowball effect that led to the situation we are facing here today,” he added.
In all, 11 associative entities were targeted by legal measures.
- Measures adopted
According to the operation, the Technical Cooperation Agreements of these entities were all suspended, as were the discounts made on the payrolls.
In addition, retirees and pensioners who identify undue or unauthorized discounts must request the automatic exclusion of the debt through the “Meu INSS” application.
https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/politi...-fraude-de-r-6-bilhoes-em-beneficios-do-inss/
INSS fraud: find out who are the suspects involved in the billion-dollar scheme
Federal Police arrested six people and another six public servants were removed from their positions, including the president of INSS, Alessandro Stefanutto, who was later fired.
The operation that targeted a billion-dollar fraud scheme at the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) carried out by the Federal Police (PF) and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) resulted in the dismissal of six public servants and the arrest of six people.
The list of public servants removed from their positions — through legal action — includes the president of the INSS himself, Alessandro Stefanutto, who was dismissed from his position hours later.
The list also includes other employees of the institute and a federal police officer
The operation, which took place in 13 states and the Federal District, included search and seizure warrants and arrest warrants.
In total, six people linked to associations in Sergipe were preventively detained (see details below).
According to the investigations, at least 11 associations are suspected of participating in the scheme and making undue discounts on benefits for retirees and pensioners.
The embezzlement occurred between 2019 and 2024 and could reach R$6.3 billion, according to investigators' estimates.
See below those removed and detained:
The removed
/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2024/g/4/F6diAUQLeoFL09pdi49g/o-presidente-do-inss-alessandro-stefanutto..jpg)
Stefanutto, the dismissed president of the INSS, has been a career civil servant since 2000.
According to his resume on a social network, Stefanutto is a career federal prosecutor, specializing in social security and management.
He has a master's degree in law from the University of Milan and a master's degree in international law from the University of Lisbon.
In his biography, he describes himself as: "responsible for the largest agreements signed in the area of Social Security and Conflict Mediator."
He is currently affiliated with the PDT, the party of the Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi, who was responsible for his nomination for the position.
/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2025/7/Z/YAwAVnTAyYsRfO3iJqtA/virgilioantonio.jpg)
He was removed from his position as attorney general of the INSS.
According to information from the Ministry of Social Security's website, Virgílio holds a law degree from the Catholic University of Pernambuco and has specialized in public law, military law, administrative law and social security law.
Virgílio Antônio Ribeiro de Oliveira Filho also holds a doctorate in constitutional law from the University of Buenos Aires.
/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2025/v/U/LSHABEQ1ivA0MNB8KvFg/thumbnail-outlook-foto-do-pe.jpg)
He was removed from his position as general coordinator of Customer Service Support at INSS.
According to his social media, Spiecker has a law degree from Estácio de Sá College in Vila Velha, with an emphasis on social security law, contracts, bidding, public administration in general, as well as notions of public budget and people management.
Also according to his biography, in Vila Velha, he was the manager of the INSS Social Security agency. Spiecker's resume also states that he is an agricultural technician.
/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2025/H/I/jjevdsS3CNg2pnchSiHg/thumbnail-image.png)
He was removed from his position as Director of Benefits and Citizen Relations.
According to a government website, he joined the INSS in 2006 and held several management positions.
The resume also states that Santos was the Budget, Finance and Logistics Management Coordinator at the INSS Superintendence in São Paulo.
/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2025/J/t/RKiOoGRg6Hj6WnnZ8Kcg/thumbnail-image-1-.png)
He was removed from his position as general coordinator of Payments and Benefits at the INSS. The INSS website no longer contains any information about his resume.
Up until the last update of this report, the INSS website was undergoing successive changes to its organizational chart.
Federal police officer
He was removed from his duties. He collaborated with the frauds, but his name was not disclosed.
The Arrested
The operation on Wednesday served 211 search and seizure warrants in 34 municipalities.
Five people were arrested on Wednesday morning and one was on the run, but according to sources, she was arrested that night.
All those under investigation are from associations in Sergipe, but the police have not released their identities.
What the investigation found
The irregularities are related to monthly fees charged by associations on INSS benefits. The discounts were made as if the beneficiaries had agreed to join, which was not the case.
According to the CGU minister, these entities supposedly provided services such as legal assistance and offered discounts on gym memberships and health plans.
The investigations showed that "the entities did not have the operational structure to provide the service that was offered," Carvalho explained.
In addition to the cases in which signatures were forged, 70% of the 29 entities analyzed had not submitted the complete documentation to the INSS to make the discounts on benefits.
The associations formalize Technical Cooperation Agreements (ACT) with the INSS to make monthly discounts on the payroll of retirees and pensioners. However, to do so, they need express authorization from INSS beneficiaries.
However, the investigation found that there was no rigorous verification of these authorizations and the possibility of forgery of membership and authorization documents.
One of the entities is the National Union of Retired Workers (Sindnapi), whose vice-president is the brother of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), José Ferreira da Silva, known as Frei Chico.
In a statement, Sindnapi stated that it supports the investigations into undue discounts and that "it is a serious, transparent and responsible entity."
"We always act with formal authorizations, in accordance with INSS regulations," the statement concludes.
The investigation began in 2023 at the CGU, at the administrative level. In 2024, after the CGU found evidence of crimes, the Federal Police were called.
According to Lewandowski, the PF opened 12 inquiries to investigate the frauds.
https://g1.globo.com/politica/notic...s-de-envolvimento-no-esquema-bilionario.ghtml
Manoela Carlucci Elijonas Maia
da CNN
An operation launched by the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) and the Federal Police (PF) targeted, this Wednesday (23), a national scheme of unauthorized associative discounts on retirements and pensions.
In total, the entities are said to have charged retirees and pensioners an estimated R$6.3 billion between 2019 and 2024.
To date, six public servants have been removed from their posts. In addition, 211 search and seizure warrants, orders to seize assets worth more than R$1 billion, and six temporary arrest warrants were served in the Federal District and in 13 other states. Among these, the president of the INSS, Alessandro Stefanutto, was also removed from office.
- We got rich, they're gonna die trying!
See how the fraud worked:
In a press conference held this Wednesday (23), the CGU minister, Vinicius Marques de Carvalho, stated that this operation began after identifying an increase in these discounts, as well as an increase in complaints from retirees regarding these undue discounts.
“Many of these people, the vast majority of them, had not authorized these discounts. These discounts were, for the most part, fraudulent due to forged signatures, due to a series of artifices used to simulate this expression of will that was not a real expression of will of these people,” he explained.
- Discounts
According to the Minister of the Comptroller General's Office, it was proven that the entities analyzed “did not have any operational structure to provide the services they offered”.
“What are these services? They are associative entities that can offer a series of benefits, such as: a discount at a gym, a discount on a health plan (…) What was found is that these entities did not have an operational structure and, furthermore, that 72% of them had not submitted to the INSS, even though they were making these discounts, the necessary documentation for this to happen”, he said.
Any discount must have prior authorization from the beneficiary to take place. In addition, the entity must formalize a Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) with the National Institute of Social Security (INSS), which allows monthly deductions to be made directly from the payroll.
Vinicius Marques argues that the “lack of rigorous verification of this authorization” ended up allowing this type of fraud.
“Unfortunately, the INSS was not able to, or was not able to, carry out the necessary inspections of these authorizations, due to the increase in the number of deductions, which created a snowball effect that led to the situation we are facing here today,” he added.
In all, 11 associative entities were targeted by legal measures.
- Measures adopted
According to the operation, the Technical Cooperation Agreements of these entities were all suspended, as were the discounts made on the payrolls.
In addition, retirees and pensioners who identify undue or unauthorized discounts must request the automatic exclusion of the debt through the “Meu INSS” application.
https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/politi...-fraude-de-r-6-bilhoes-em-beneficios-do-inss/
INSS fraud: find out who are the suspects involved in the billion-dollar scheme
Federal Police arrested six people and another six public servants were removed from their positions, including the president of INSS, Alessandro Stefanutto, who was later fired.
The operation that targeted a billion-dollar fraud scheme at the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) carried out by the Federal Police (PF) and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) resulted in the dismissal of six public servants and the arrest of six people.
The list of public servants removed from their positions — through legal action — includes the president of the INSS himself, Alessandro Stefanutto, who was dismissed from his position hours later.
The list also includes other employees of the institute and a federal police officer
The operation, which took place in 13 states and the Federal District, included search and seizure warrants and arrest warrants.
In total, six people linked to associations in Sergipe were preventively detained (see details below).According to the investigations, at least 11 associations are suspected of participating in the scheme and making undue discounts on benefits for retirees and pensioners.
The embezzlement occurred between 2019 and 2024 and could reach R$6.3 billion, according to investigators' estimates.
See below those removed and detained:
The removed
- Alessandro Stefanutto
Stefanutto, the dismissed president of the INSS, has been a career civil servant since 2000.
According to his resume on a social network, Stefanutto is a career federal prosecutor, specializing in social security and management.
He has a master's degree in law from the University of Milan and a master's degree in international law from the University of Lisbon.
In his biography, he describes himself as: "responsible for the largest agreements signed in the area of Social Security and Conflict Mediator."
He is currently affiliated with the PDT, the party of the Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi, who was responsible for his nomination for the position.
- Virgílio Antônio Ribeiro de Oliveira Filho
He was removed from his position as attorney general of the INSS.
According to information from the Ministry of Social Security's website, Virgílio holds a law degree from the Catholic University of Pernambuco and has specialized in public law, military law, administrative law and social security law.
Virgílio Antônio Ribeiro de Oliveira Filho also holds a doctorate in constitutional law from the University of Buenos Aires.
- Giovani Batista Fassarella Spiecker
He was removed from his position as general coordinator of Customer Service Support at INSS.
According to his social media, Spiecker has a law degree from Estácio de Sá College in Vila Velha, with an emphasis on social security law, contracts, bidding, public administration in general, as well as notions of public budget and people management.
Also according to his biography, in Vila Velha, he was the manager of the INSS Social Security agency. Spiecker's resume also states that he is an agricultural technician.
- Vanderlei Barbosa dos Santos
He was removed from his position as Director of Benefits and Citizen Relations.
According to a government website, he joined the INSS in 2006 and held several management positions.
The resume also states that Santos was the Budget, Finance and Logistics Management Coordinator at the INSS Superintendence in São Paulo.
- Jacimar Fonseca da Silva
He was removed from his position as general coordinator of Payments and Benefits at the INSS. The INSS website no longer contains any information about his resume.
Up until the last update of this report, the INSS website was undergoing successive changes to its organizational chart.
Federal police officer
He was removed from his duties. He collaborated with the frauds, but his name was not disclosed.
The Arrested
The operation on Wednesday served 211 search and seizure warrants in 34 municipalities.
Five people were arrested on Wednesday morning and one was on the run, but according to sources, she was arrested that night.
All those under investigation are from associations in Sergipe, but the police have not released their identities.
What the investigation found
The irregularities are related to monthly fees charged by associations on INSS benefits. The discounts were made as if the beneficiaries had agreed to join, which was not the case.
According to the CGU minister, these entities supposedly provided services such as legal assistance and offered discounts on gym memberships and health plans.
The investigations showed that "the entities did not have the operational structure to provide the service that was offered," Carvalho explained.
In addition to the cases in which signatures were forged, 70% of the 29 entities analyzed had not submitted the complete documentation to the INSS to make the discounts on benefits.
The associations formalize Technical Cooperation Agreements (ACT) with the INSS to make monthly discounts on the payroll of retirees and pensioners. However, to do so, they need express authorization from INSS beneficiaries.
However, the investigation found that there was no rigorous verification of these authorizations and the possibility of forgery of membership and authorization documents.
One of the entities is the National Union of Retired Workers (Sindnapi), whose vice-president is the brother of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), José Ferreira da Silva, known as Frei Chico.
In a statement, Sindnapi stated that it supports the investigations into undue discounts and that "it is a serious, transparent and responsible entity."
"We always act with formal authorizations, in accordance with INSS regulations," the statement concludes.
The investigation began in 2023 at the CGU, at the administrative level. In 2024, after the CGU found evidence of crimes, the Federal Police were called.
According to Lewandowski, the PF opened 12 inquiries to investigate the frauds.
https://g1.globo.com/politica/notic...s-de-envolvimento-no-esquema-bilionario.ghtml
