Former president of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS), Alessandro Stefanutto, did not accept the recommendations of the Union Comptroller General (CGU) to suspend automatic associative discounts on pensions. The information was given by CGU’s Social Security Audit Director, Eliane Viegas Mota, in a statement given on Thursday (4) to the INSS’s Mixed Parliamentary Parliamentary Commission (CPMI).
According to the auditor, the CGU met with the municipality in July 2024 to present alternatives against unauthorized discounts on the benefits. However, Stefanutto questioned the report’s methodology and preferred to analyze the data before deciding. The Technical Cooperation Agreements (ACTs), which allowed the transfers, continued in force until April 2025, when the Federal Police -free operation led to the suspension of payments.
Eliane pointed out that CGU has made numerous communications to the INSS over the period, but in some situations the organ omitted itself. The CPMI rapporteur, Deputy Alfredo Gaspar (União-AL), stressed that the servant’s call was to clarify the institute’s insistence on maintaining agreements with associations, despite the interruption recommendations.
The police operation revealed that associations falsified authorizations of retirees and pensioners to justify discounts. The money, diverted over the years, should finance services to associates, but there was no counterpart. Stefanutto was removed from the presidency of the INSS after the case surfaced and later dismissed.
Among the entities involved, the National Confederation of Rural Workers Farmers and Family Farmers (Contag) stood out for the volume collected. According to CGU, the association received about R $ 3.4 billion in ten years, an estimated total of R $ 6.3 billion diverted between 2019 and 2024 of approximately 7 million beneficiaries.
The auditor reported that several associations refused to provide documents during the calculation, claiming not to be under the competence of the CGU. In all, 40 entities kept active discounts before the operation without discount. All, according to Eliane, presented some kind of irregularity.
Rapporteur Alfredo Gaspar stated that, from the testimony, all entities involved will be treated as investigated by CPMI. Senator Damares Alves (Republicans-DF) has called for caution, arguing that parliamentarians do not disregard the history of some institutions, which, according to her, also develop projects to support rural workers.
During the session, it was also remembered that similar agreements had been suspended in 2019 after complaints. Even so, the INSS renewed agreements like Contag in 2024, contrary to internal opinions. CPMI will continue listening to testimonials from former managers and association leaders, in an attempt to clarify the billionaire scheme and point out responsibilities.
