BRASÍLIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS) - Directors of the Federal Police stated this Friday (3) that the first investigations of Operation Without Discount, which investigates suspected illegal and unauthorized discounts on INSS (National Social Security Institute) pensions, should be concluded by the end of this month.
First investigations into INSS deviations should be concluded this month, says PF
BRASÍLIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS) - Directors of the Federal Police stated this Friday (3) that the first investigations of Operation Without Discount, which investigates suspected illegal and unauthorized discounts on INSS...
The cases that must be concluded are related to the initial investigations of the operation, which deal with suspected fraud related to the institute that manages pensions and the associations that committed these deviations.
The conclusive reports will be sent to the case's rapporteur, the minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) André Mendonça. After the corporation is concluded, it will be up to the PGR (Attorney General's Office) to decide whether or not to report any potential indictees.
Operation Without Discount investigates million-dollar embezzlements involving associations and employees with unauthorized association discounts on retirement and pensions. The scheme would have deducted around R$6.3 billion between 2019 and 2024, according to the PF.
The statements about the investigation were made at a breakfast meeting at the PF summit with journalists, at the organization's headquarters, in Brasília.
As these first conclusions will deal with undue discounts, mentions of businessman Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, son of President Lula (PT), should be left out of the reports. Sem Desconto's investigations continue and will not be closed.
Asked about Lulinha, the general director of the PF, Andrei Rodrigues, said that "side circumstances" are under investigation within legal treatment. "Today we have 27 people involved in this work which, due to legal provisions, needs to be completed as a matter of priority in relation to this point", he stated.
According to him, although the main criminal hypothesis is an associative discount scheme, this does not eliminate the PF from "investigating any other circumstances lateral to the episode".
Last week, Folha de S.Paulo showed that the PF informed Mendonça that it will need more time to analyze some of the material seized at Sem Desconto. This stage includes the assessment of the breach of Lulinha's banking, tax and telematic secrecy.
After the start of the operation, the model of these discounts under which the frauds occurred was extinguished by the INSS. Associations, confederations and unions obtained authorization, through technical cooperation agreements, to apply deductions directly from retirement and pension payrolls.
The rule provided for endorsement by beneficiaries, but investigations found a scheme to release discounts that even involved forging signatures and recordings of telephone calls. Through loopholes in the rules, the system was used by shell entities to apply undue discounts.
A CGU audit of 29 of the more than 40 entities investigated found that many did not have the necessary operational structure to provide the services they promised, such as medical insurance or funeral assistance.
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Source: Noticias ao Minuto - Economia
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