Federal police consider Carlos Roberto Ferreira López, president of Conafar (National Union of Family Farmers and Rural Family Entrepreneurs), to be a fugitive and has been identified as the leader and founder of the organization’s fraudulent scheme at INSS (National Institute of Social Security).
He was ordered into preventive detention by STF (Supreme Federal Court) Minister Andre Mendonça on the 11th, and the PF tried to comply with the decision this Thursday (13th) after a new phase of Operation No Discount was launched.
When contacted, Conafer’s adviser said he had not been able to contact Lopez since Thursday morning. According to a study by the CGU (Federal Comptroller General), Conafer was the second company with the most pension discounts of R$ 484 million between 2019 and 2024.
In an exclusive interview with sheet On October 15, Mr. Lopez denied that he was a flight risk if the STF declared his arrest.
“If I go there (INSS CPI) without a writ of habeas corpus, I have asked for evidence. How do you know that this man wants to flee? A man who works from Monday to Friday? I have no reason to flee. If the STF deems it appropriate to restrict my freedom, I will come forward. My organization is functioning and does not pose any danger to society,” he said at the time.
In an interview, he accused the committee’s board of being selective in not calling “ostensible institutions” to testify, and that he was a piranha and a smokescreen.
“They are bashing great people to cover up people who don’t exist,” he asserted, adding that they have a “political objective to destroy and privatize social security.”
In addition to being responsible for directing the fraud and the group’s political expression, López also controlled the transfer of funds and determined the distribution of resources diverted from INSS, according to the PF report.
According to police, instructions included inducing elderly people to sign data update forms and replacing them with false membership forms by visiting businesses to obtain signatures from beneficiaries.
“Reading the federal police statement, one can conclude that he (Mr. López) became a kind of center of gravity for the organization, was given decision-making power over other centers, and was responsible for maintaining the chain of illicit payments,” Mendonça said in the judgment.
According to the documents, López’s financier is businessman Cicero Marcelino de Sousa Santos, who was arrested during the operation. Through his companies, he transferred bribes to public authorities, including former INSS president Alessandro Stefanutto, and was scheduled to receive 250,000 reais a month from INSS. His defense attorney denies the charges.
The group’s president was arrested in late September on suspicion of giving false testimony after giving a statement to the CPI.
At the time, the committee’s rapporteur, Deputy Alfredo Gaspar (Union, Ala.), said he would ask the STF to order preventive detention, citing flight risk, intimidation of witnesses, and loss of property.
In a statement released Thursday, Mr. Conafer’s news agency said it was aware of the operation with great concern and that all those named in the operation have the procedural and moral right to be guaranteed a defense and have their honor preserved pending a definitive judicial decision of censure.
He also said he has confidence in the institutions and is ready to fully cooperate with the competent authorities to uncover the facts and “ensure that the legal truth prevails.”
“However, we demand that the investigation be carried out impartially and transparently, without any exaggerations that could undermine the right to defense or the conduct of essential social activities,” he said. He added that the company will continue to monitor the development of the case and take all applicable legal measures to ensure the defense of the directors and protect the continuity of the service.
During the new phase of Operation No Discount, agents discovered US$72,000 (approximately R$381,200), plus R$720,000 in cash. Also found were 23 luxury watches, 106 pieces of jewelry, 43 cars and 57 mobile phones. Eight weapons and 314 rounds of ammunition remained at the target of the operation. According to the PF, officials recovered five computers, 21 notebooks and other devices.
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