The Agrarian Confederation received 2 billion reais in unjustified cuts; the action takes place eight months after the police operation and exposes the management of Jorge Messias, appointed to the STF
BRAZILIA – A Attorney General of the Union (AGU) announced this Saturday 20 a new series of legal actions against eight entities accused of having granted undue reductions in government benefits INSS (National Institute of Social Security). Among the main targets of this new offensive is National Confederation of Rural Workers, Farmers and Family Farmers (Contag)an entity historically linked to the Workers’ Party (PT).
According to Federal Police investigations, this entity was the largest beneficiary of resources from undue pension withholdings, having received at least 2 billion reais between January 2019 and March 2024 (48% of the total illegally deducted from pensions).
Timeline of delays
The entity has been the subject of an investigation by the federal police and the General Controller of the Union (CGU) since the start of the no-discount operation, the first phase of which was launched on April 23 of this year. Yet the AGU has only targeted him now, in the latest round of actions presented to the Court.
As shown in Stadiumthe AGU also took a long time to act against a union which counts on its board of directors the brother of President Lula, the Sindinapitargeted by the AGU only in September.
The delay lies with the leadership of the Union’s Advocate General, Jorge Messiasappointed by the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for the position open to Federal Court (STF) with the retirement of the minister Luis Roberto Barroso.
Messias ignored, during the first wave of legal actions in May, an internal alert launched a year and five months ago by the prosecutors of the 4th Region (South). This technical document, revealed by Estadãoalready mapped irregularities in the union linked to Frei Chico and suggested the suspension of agreements due to the “explosive increase” in legal requirements. At the time, Messias management claimed that the alert, resulting from a routine correction, did not gather enough evidence, thus postponing action.
Complete list of new targets
This Saturday, in addition to Contag, AGU announced that it had filed lawsuits against:
- Sinab: National Union of Retirees of Brazil;
- FITF/CNTT/CUT: Interstate Federation of Railway Workers;
- Against: National Confederation of Family Farm Workers;
- ASTRE: Association of Central-West Rail Traffic Servers;
- SindaPB: Union of Retirees and Pensioners of Brazil;
- United: Mongeral Aegon Longevity Institute;
- Sintapi-CUT: National Union of Retired Workers, Pensioners and Elderly.
AGU balance sheet
The AGU indicates that, taking into account all the stages of the operation since the outbreak of the scandal, it has already filed 37 precautionary actions. The agency calls for a total blockage of 6.6 billion reais guarantee compensation to injured retirees.
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