São Paulo – Sao Paulo (AP) – Brazil The Federal Police said Wednesday that they are investigating a scheme that diverted more than 6 billion reais ($ 1.05 billion) of pensions paid by the National Social Security Institute.
The investigation is aimed at 11 organizations that operated between 2019 and 2024, authorities told reporters. The scheme had retired retirees as members of associations who gathered part of their monthly pensions as fees for organizations. However, retirees had never joined such associations or authorized deductions.
As part of the investigation, the president of the National Social Security Institute, Alessandro Stefanutto and other directors were withdrawn from their positions. The Social Security Office did not immediately respond to a request for comments from Associated Press.
The Federal Police said that one billion reais ($ 175.8 million) in assets were seized on Tuesday and also issued arrest orders for six people: three were arrested and three are still released.
It was not known immediately who were the arrested people.
If the investigation finds enough evidence, those investigated could face charges of corruption, as well as charges of violating the secret, falsifying documents, establishing a criminal organization and money laundering.
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