STF Rejects Extension of INSS Fraud CPMI, Panel Set to End by Saturday

Overview

• The Supreme Court, which voted 8–2 on Thursday, overturned Minister André Mendonça’s order and said only Congress can extend the probe, leaving the CPMI due to close on March 28 after Senate President Davi Alcolumbre declined to act.
• Ministers rebuked the CPMI’s conduct, with Gilmar Mendes calling the leak of Daniel Vorcaro’s phone data criminal and colleagues decrying blanket secrecy breaks and a drift beyond the inquiry’s stated scope.
• Committee leaders scheduled a Friday vote on a final report that seeks the indictment of Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, over alleged ties to schemes that skimmed retirees’ benefits.
• The outcome isolated Mendonça, who had given Congress 48 hours to process an extension, as most justices embraced Flávio Dino’s view that creation of a CPI is a minority right but prolonging it is a political decision for the legislature.
• Separate from Congress’s work, investigations into INSS fraud and Banco Master continue under the Federal Police and the prosecutor general’s office, which ministers said remain the proper channels for criminal inquiry.