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Brazil's Federal Police Expand INSS Fraud Probe With 66 STF-Backed Raids

STF-approved searches seek evidence of unauthorized deductions from retirees' benefits via sham associations.

Overview

  • Agents executed search-and-seizure orders across São Paulo (45), Sergipe (12), Amazonas, Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Catarina, Pernambuco, Bahia and the Federal District under Justice André Mendonça’s warrants with CGU support.
  • Targets included the São Paulo headquarters of Sindnapi and the home of its president, Milton Baptista de Souza Filho, who was scheduled to testify to the INSS CPMI; vice president José “Frei Chico” Ferreira da Silva was not targeted.
  • Investigators reported seizing multiple luxury vehicles, cash, computers and a firearm, while focusing on three companies suspected of operating the scheme’s money-laundering structure.
  • The INSS CPI/CPMI approved banking and tax secrecy breaks for Milton Baptista and others and requested Coaf documents, citing Dataprev figures showing Sindnapi received about R$ 507.5 million in associative discounts from 2020 to 2025.
  • Authorities say the scheme used falsified data, sham associations and bribes to INSS personnel to insert deductions without consent, with earlier phases yielding arrests of Antônio Carlos Camilo Antunes and Maurício Camisotti.