Cícero Marcelino is being investigated for involvement in companies that received R$284.5 million from an entity under investigation by the commission, suspected of participating in fraud against retirees and pensioners
A do listen this Thursday (16), at 9 am, to Cícero Marcelino de Souza Santos, linked to the National Confederation of Family Farmers and Rural Family Entrepreneurs (Conafer). The entity is one of the associations accused of involvement in fraud against retirees and pensioners. Cícero Marcelino is an advisor to the president of Carlos Roberto Ferreira Lopes, and was the target of Operation Without Discount, by the Federal Police. It is suspected that he received illegal monthly fees charged by Conafer, under the pretext of being a service provider for the entity.
In a previous statement, on September 29, Lopes said that the advisor provided various services to the confederation. “We rented vehicles, purchased inputs and toys for Christmas. There are several inputs”, said Lopes to deputy Alfredo Gaspar (União-AL), CPMI rapporteur.
Voting on requirements
In the first part of the meeting, parliamentarians must analyze 101 requests, including breaches of confidentiality and new calls. One of the requests proposes breaking banking, tax and communications confidentiality of the former Minister of Social Security, . The application includes INSS institutional emails and Lupi’s personal cell phone.
The committee members must also decide whether to summon the vice-president of the National Union of Retirees, Pensioners and Elderly People (Sindnapi), José Ferreira da Silva, known as Frei Chico. The union is one of the entities accused of joining retirees without authorization and charging automatic monthly fees.
Frei Chico is the brother of the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and is the target of 11 requests from parliamentarians. Senator Izalci Lucas (PL-DF) defends his call to clarify the increase in Sindnapi’s revenue, which, according to him, went from R$23.3 million in 2020 to R$154.7 million in 2024. “Frei Chico has a duty to clarify the growth in his entity’s revenue. The fact that he is not a direct target of the Federal Police does not prevent the investigation of this CPMI”, said Izalci.
Requests from the government base
Members of the government bench, such as senator Randolfe Rodrigues (PT-AP), are calling for the summons of Philipe Roters Coutinho, a Federal Police agent accused of involvement in the fraud, and Thiago Schettini, identified as a facilitator of the scheme. Parliamentarians also ask for the summons of José Arnaldo Bezerra Guimarães, suspected of making payments to the daughter of Ahmed Mohamad Oliveira Andrade, former advisor to the former Minister of Social Security in the Bolsonaro government.
Rapporteur Alfredo Gaspar also presented a request for preventive arrest of the president of Sindnapi, Milton Baptista de Souza Filho, accused of running a criminal scheme that allegedly embezzled millions of reais through the union. According to Gaspar, there is evidence of falsification of documents and hiring of companies linked to the accused’s wife.
The CPMI must analyze calls from another 14 people, including Adelino Rodrigues Junior, partner at the company DM&H Assessoria Empresarial. According to a request from Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, Adelino is a partner of Domingos Sávio de Castro, owner of a telemarketing company involved in the scheme being investigated.
Alan Santos, director of Dataprev, and Lenilson Queiroz de Araújo, head of the INSS Ombudsman, may also be required to give a statement. Furthermore, the commission may approve the breach of tax secrecy of four people and 13 companies, with the sending of a financial intelligence report by Coaf — the body responsible for identifying suspicious transactions and financial crimes. The meeting will be held at 9 am, in plenary 2 of the Nilo Coelho wing, in the Senate.
*With information from Agência Câmara de Notícias
