PF sues government against Mendonça's measures in the INSS case, which involves Lulinha

Investigations into the case involve Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, son of President Lula (PT).

The body's objective is for the AGU to find some legal remedy to counter the minister's determination so that all acts of the investigation are immediately added to the process being processed in his office. He also determined that any removal of police officers from the investigative team be communicated in advance to his office.

Behind the scenes, people with access to the police leadership classified the measures as an interference by the magistrate in the management of his teams and a violation of the authority's powers.

The decision to share the data directly with the cabinet was also seen as a sign of the minister's possible distrust regarding the impartiality of the police in handling the case.

An investigator linked to the investigation said that, if Mendonça assesses that there is persecution or protection of someone or some irregularity, he must formalize this in the process and not go against an institution on a generic suspicion.

The report was unable to contact Mendonça's office to discuss the matter and the AGU did not respond to the request. The PF also did not comment on the matter.

The investigations into the case, within the scope of Operação Sem Desconto, are considered sensitive as they involve Lulinha. He had his breaches of banking, tax and telematic secrecy authorized by the minister in February.

One of the lines of investigation is that the president's son was a hidden partner of lobbyist Antonio Carlos Camilo Antunes, known as Careca of the INSS and identified as one of the central operators of the fraud scheme.

The PF's visit to the AGU represents an escalation in the crisis between Mendonça and the police. Due to the rapporteur's dissatisfaction with what he sees as the slowness of the investigation into the case, the minister had previously determined that the PF should complete, within 60 days, the analysis of the material seized in the operation, such as cell phones, hard drives, and flash drives from the prisoners.

In response, the PF informed the minister that it would need more time and spoke of a lack of staff. The police said that there are 11 people working on the investigation, while more than 40 would be needed to meet the deadline desired by the minister. He also stated that the global analysis of the material, of around 1,700 items, is at an early stage and that around 40% has been completed.

The minister had also requested, in a letter sent to the corporation, that the body maintain the investigation team and, in case of changes, that justifications be presented in the process.

The determination was made due to his dissatisfaction with changes in the coordination of the case made by the Federal Police. He assessed that these changes have contributed to the delay in completing the operation.

There is also a perception, among authorities monitoring the case, that, despite being older, Sem Desconto, which began on April 23, 2025, is slower than Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates fraud at Banco Master and had its first phase launched on November 18.

The PF had already announced the withdrawal of the case from the Social Security Crimes Repression Division and reallocated the investigation to the Coordination of Inquiries in Superior Courts, which investigates people with privileged jurisdiction.

At the time, the head of the old division, delegate Guilherme Figueiredo Silva, was taken by surprise by the decision of the Federal Police leadership.

The police argued that the change was made to ensure greater efficiency in investigations because the Coordination of Inquiries in Superior Courts has the structure to conduct sensitive operations that are processed by the STF.

The PF's changes led the opposition to accuse the corporation of protecting the president's son. The matter has also generated a rift between investigators working on the case.

Under reservation, some of them say they see the option of going after the president's son as a change in the direction of the investigations and state that, so far, there is not enough evidence that he has committed irregularities. Lulinha's defense has always denied that he committed any illegality.

Investigators have also criticized Mendonça's conduct internally, as in the case of Compliance Zero. According to them, requests to break confidentiality or block assets made by the PF to the cabinet do not have the same speed in their analysis, depending on who the targets are.