Vice-President of CPMI of INSS Calls for Arrest of Conafer President

The Vice-President of the CPMI of INSS, Federal Deputy Duarte Jr. (PSB-MA), called for the immediate arrest of Carlos Roberto Ferreira Lopes, President of the National Confederation of Family Farmers and Rural Family Entrepreneurs (Conafer), during his deposition on Monday (9/29).
The INSS scandal was revealed by Metrópoles in a series of articles published from December 2023. Three months later, the portal showed that the entities’ revenue from pensioner membership discounts had soared to R$2 billion in a year, while the associations were facing thousands of fraud lawsuits regarding the enrolment of insured individuals. These Metrópoles articles led to a police investigation by the Federal Police (PF) and fueled the inquiries of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU). In total, 38 portal articles were cited by the PF in the representation that triggered Operation Sem Desconto, launched on 4/23 and resulted in the dismissal of the INSS president and the Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi.
During Monday’s testimony, Duarte questioned the union leader about Conafer’s suspected improper discount practices on INSS pensions. The President of the organization refused, under his constitutional right, to respond. However, after accusing Ferreira Lopes of lying, Duarte Jr. displayed a photograph of Lopes wearing a hat and asked if it was indeed the union leader in the picture. The respondent replied, ‘If you are not myopic, you know it’s me.’
Duarte Jr. then called for Lopes’ immediate arrest for contempt in response to the lawmaker’s statements. ‘You are not speaking to just anyone, you liar. You are not talking to someone from Conafer; you are talking to an authority. You are under arrest for contempt, show some respect,’ said the deputy. The committee’s president, Carlos Viana (Podemos-MG), did not approve the request. He reprimanded Duarte for his sharp words and turned off his microphone. ‘I will not condone contempt since you did not comply with my requests in a respectful manner. Your Excellency became agitated twice… With all due respect, in my position, I must ask you to be careful with your words and preconceptions. Your speech is now closed,’ said Viana.
Duarte continued to question Viana’s decision and was warned by the chair that he could be asked to leave the session. The senator from Minas Gerais stated that ‘no one will put on a show at this presidency.’ ‘You need to restrain yourself and follow the guidelines of this presidency… no one will put on a show under this presidency,’ he said.