Head of the Comptroller General of the Union stated that ‘the information that people did not know does not proceed’ and that followed the president’s guidance of being ‘intolerant with fraud, deviations and corruption’ ‘
The Minister of Vinicius Carvalho said the government was warned of investigations involving INSS fraud and that the Minister of the Civil House, “I knew the problem.” The statement, in an interview with the newspaper O Globo, counteracts criticisms made after the operation of the CGU with the become a new wear front to the Planalto Palace. “Everyone knew the problem and that the CGU was auditing. The information that people didn’t know doesn’t do it. Minister Rui knows that,” Carvalho told Globo. According to him, the technical cooperation agreements with investigated entities were signed between 2021 and 2022, during the Bolsonaro government, and the undue discounts burst in 2023.
The minister also stated that he followed the guidance of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of being “intolerant with fraud, deviations and corruption” and criticized alternatives such as “pretending we didn’t see” or adopting palliative measures. “The third possibility was to investigate, punish and compensate the retirees. This was the measure taken,” he said. Carvalho denied that the CGU was selective by failing to include entities close to the government, such as Conafer and Contag, in the initial requests for blocking resources. “There is no selectivity. All entities that have frauduated discounts or practiced any act of corruption will be held responsible.”
The minister also defended changes in the retirees and pensioners discount system, suggesting even his interruption. “The conclusion of the CGU report is that the most viable would be to interrupt discounts. But this is a political decision, which even involves the National Congress.”
*With information from Estadão Content
