The breach of confidentiality by Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as , has been explored by the senator (PL-RJ), pre-candidate for Planalto, and by Bolsonarist parliamentarians, and the idea is that the topic will be taken to this year’s campaign.
Data received by the mixed CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) showed, this Thursday (5), that the son of the president (PT) .
Government officials counterattacked on the networks, publishing that the breach of confidentiality did not prove transfers from the businessman known as Careca from the INSS, as suspected, nor crimes. The response speech was agreed at a meeting between Lula and ministers on Thursday (5), in which the breach of confidentiality was one of the topics discussed.
Lulinha has so far not been the target of formal accusations in the INSS case. The PF has investigated quotes made to the president’s son in Operation Sem Desconto investigations, including his relationship with Antonio Carlos Camilo Antunes, the INSS’s Careca.
The topic began to dominate Flávio’s networks. In the publications, the senator ironizes that Lulinha is “the son of the father of the poor” and writes “like father, like son”. He also says that Lulinha will “help save Brazil from his father”.
The senator’s interlocutors say that not only Lulinha’s case, but fraud in the INSS and should appear in the campaign with the aim of linking Lula to corruption. The reading is that the series of recent scandals, including , which targeted the PCC, end up helping Flávio electorally.
Former councilor Carlos Bolsonaro (PL), in turn, started using Lulinha’s case to contrast the situation of his father, (PL), after being convicted of an attempted coup d’état. Carlos and other Bolsonarists question the former president’s arrest, arguing that he is not accused of corruption.
When sharing news about Careca’s suspicion of the INSS, he wrote: “They put President Jair Bolsonaro in jail to serve a sentence of almost 28 years in prison without embezzling a cent of public money under the stupid and scoundrel justification of an attempted coup.”
On the other hand, some of Flávio’s allies defend restraint when exploiting Lulinha’s wear and tear. They claim that the senator’s campaign must be purposeful and not bellicose, seeking to show that the Lula government has made the country worse and offering another path.
The president’s allies say they are not afraid of this debate with Flávio, citing the senator’s wealth development as possible ammunition. In the campaign, they say, Bolsonaro’s son should also be questioned about the in Brasília and the .
Behind the scenes, however, members of the government admit that the episode caused political wear and tear for the president, mainly due to the volume of money moved.
Lula would have been surprised by the amount, but his interlocutors explained that it was R$9.774 million in inflows and R$9.758 million in outflows from the accounts. The breach of confidentiality exposed data from four of Lulinha’s bank accounts at Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica Federal from January 3, 2022 until January 30 of this year.
The president expressed irritation with the leak of information, which has been attributed to the Federal Police. He also questioned why the breach of confidentiality had been necessary, if Lulinha’s defense offered the (Supreme Federal Court) her bank details.
Before the breach of confidentiality came to light, on Tuesday (3), Lula called his son and said that he has to defend himself. In the meeting with ministers, after the content was revealed, the PT member told his assistants that he told his son that he had to explain himself. The president claims that Lulinha tells him that he has no problem and that, therefore, he can defend himself.
Among the amounts received listed in the document are R$721,000 transferred by Lula to his son. Of this total, R$384,000 was paid on July 22, 2022. Two other transfers took place on December 27, 2023.
At the request of the police, Minister André Mendonça, of the STF, broke Lulinha’s banking, tax and telematics secrecy before the CPI approved the same break, last week.
On Wednesday (4), a decision by the minister to suspend the breach of banking and tax secrecy by a friend of Lulinha led to the extension of the same benefit, this Thursday.
Lulinha’s defense says that “the leak [da quebra do seu sigilo] constitutes a serious crime, which is being immediately reported to all competent authorities.” “We will spare no effort to identify and punish those responsible,” he states.
