A message received by Antonio Carlos Camilo Antunes, Careca of the INSS, then transmitted to an interlocutor reveals new evidence of the role of the lobbyist at the Ministry of Health. The recordings of the conversation are in the possession of the Federal Police (PF).
On November 6, 2024, Careca from the INSS sent a message to his contact. “Berger already has these indications in hand,” indicates the text sent by the lobbyist. Shepherd is the nickname of Swedishberger Barbosa (featured photo), then executive secretary of the Ministry of Health and current head of the Deputy Office of Internal Management of President Lula’s personal office.
Careca of the INSS attempted to conclude an agreement, through its company World Cannabis, with the Ministry of Health for the supply, without competitive bidding, of cannabidiol-based medicines for the Unified Health System (SUS). In this enterprise, he benefited from the formal help of the businesswoman Roberta Luchsinger, friend of Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, son of President Lula (PT).
Data obtained through the Access to Information Law (LAI) section reveals that Careca of the INSS visited the executive secretariat of the Ministry of Health, under the direction of Swedishberger Barbosa, at least five times in the last two years. The first programming took place in March 2024; and the last, in February of this year.
Health Department concierge records also show that the lobbyist and Roberta Luchsinger were together at the department’s headquarters to talk about cannabis with Berger.
In a note, Swedishberger Barbosa said the meetings were on the public agenda and were institutional visits. “The agenda was carried out in accordance with the duties of his office at the time, without there being any kind of guidance for its implementation,” explained the Communications Secretariat (Secom) of the Presidency of the Republic.
The former number 2 of the Ministry of Health also stressed that there was no interest on the part of the ministry in purchasing any product or service from World Cann. “The meeting had no consequences, which highlights its technical progress and shields the thesis from any form of political influence.”
Swedishberger Barbosa left the Ministry of Health in March this year, after Alexandre Padilha (PT) took over as head of the department in place of Nísia Trindade, amid another stage of ministerial reform undertaken by President Lula.
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Lulinha’s friend advised INSS’s Careca to mislead Metropoles
Another message held by the federal police shows how Careca, of the INSS, had behind-the-scenes contacts with influential figures in Brasilia. As the column from January this year showed, when Padilha was about to take over the leadership of the Ministry of Health, Antonio Carlos Camilo Antunes declared that the PT member would assume this role.
In the text sent via WhatsApp to an interlocutor, the businessman informs of the change in direction of the department and adds: “Our projects have been taken over by the new minister… It has improved… (sic)”. In the same text, Careca and the INSS declared that Berger would be the new president of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), which did not materialize.
In a note to the column, the Health Ministry stressed that Padilha was announced as Health chief on February 25 and that any prior statements are speculation. “The mentioned product (medical cannabis) is not even included in the SUS, no purchase has been made and there is no procedure within the Ministry of Health for its inclusion or offering.”
Conversations by Roberta Luchsinger with Careca from INSS
Bald of the INSS and Roberta Luchsinger
Target of the PF in the new phase of Operation No Surrender, Roberta Luchsinger sent messages to Careca from the INSS, asking it to publish a statement dissociating itself from DuoSystem. The reason was the concern aroused by the journalists of the Metropolises who investigated the matter. She also sent a message recommending the lobbyist to throw away his cell phone.
His intention would be to destroy evidence likely to incriminate them. “Antonio, get rid of these phones. Throw them away,” Roberta Luchsinger wrote to him on April 29. This was not enough: the PF arrested the lobbyist a few months later, on September 12, 2025.
According to the PF, Roberta received 1.5 million reais from Careca from the INSS. In one of these transfers, he explained that the money was intended for “the boy’s son”, possibly referring to Lulinha.
President Lula, in turn, when questioned about this, told the press: “If my son is involved in this matter, he will be investigated.”
During his testimony before the INSS Joint Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPMI) in September this year, Antonio Camilo Antunes admitted that he had business with Roberta Luchsinger, but that the consulting firm, as he put it, “did not prosper.”
What does Swedishberger Barbosa say about the “guidance” cited by Careca of the INSS
In a note, the Communications Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic informed:
“Even without having access to the alleged exchange of messages mentioned in the report, Swedishberger Barbosa specifies that he received representatives of the companies World Cann and Duosistem, for an institutional visit duly included in his public agenda, in January 2025, while he held the position of executive secretary of the Ministry of Health. or service of these companies, the meeting had no development, which highlights its technical conduct and removes the thesis from any type of political influence.
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