The operation targets the illegal retirement and pension deduction system. Stefanotto ran the institute between June 2023 and April 2025. The defense says the detention is “unlawful.” The Federal Police (PF) arrested on Thursday morning (11/13) the former president of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) Alessandro Stefanotto. The arrest was made in the new phase of Operation No Deduction, launched jointly with the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU), targeting the INSS’s illegal retirement and pension deductions scheme.
Stefanotto, who took office in July 2023, was fired in April this year, when the National Front and the CGU carried out the first operation in the plot. According to the investigation, amounts were irregularly withheld from the pensions of thousands of eligible people between 2019 and 2024.
This Thursday, Federal Police officers and CGU auditors executed 63 search and seizure warrants, 10 preventive arrest warrants and various other precautionary measures in 15 units of the federation.
Among the detainees are other people connected to the entities being investigated. The armed former Social Security Minister of Jair Bolsonaro’s government, Mohamed (José Carlos) Oliveira, also underwent a precautionary measure and will now wear an electronic ankle bracelet.
Antonio Carlos Antunes Camilo, known as Carica of the National Institute of Security and Security, was the target of a new arrest warrant. He has been detained since September, when the National Front accused him of being one of the main operators of the illegal discount scheme.
“Crimes of entering false data into official systems, creating a criminal organization, social security fraud, active and passive corruption, as well as acts of concealment and vandalism of property are being investigated,” the Federal Police said.
Stefanotto’s defense said, in a press statement, that he will prove his innocence at the end of the proceedings related to the case. “This is a completely illegal arrest, because Stefanotto did not cause any kind of embarrassment to the investigation, as he cooperated with the investigation from the beginning,” he wrote.
How the scheme worked
The scheme involved trade associations, which charged pensioners and pensioners fees for providing services such as legal advice or agreements with gyms and health plans.
These funds can be deducted directly from the beneficiaries’ salaries, provided there is explicit approval, and passed to the associations. These entities must also sign a Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) with INSS to receive the funds.
However, thousands of beneficiaries began identifying unauthorized deductions from their pensions. The Fund revealed that the authorities established links with retirees and pensioners, whose entitlements were reduced without their consent and without receiving the promised services. According to the investigation, the embezzled amounts, which have already been returned by the institute, could exceed R$6 billion.
Last July, the federal government promised to return the money that was deducted from retirees without permission. Retirees targeted by the scheme have until February 14, 2026 to claim their money back.
gq/cn (Brazil Agency, OTS)
About The Author
