A million-dollar fraud involving a social assistance program for elderly Venezuelans in Brazil has been uncovered by the Federal Police, which, through an investigation, revealed the embezzlement of the Benefício de Atendimento ao Idoso (BPC-Loas) program that serves the elderly in Roraima.
The operation, dubbed “Cessatio,” allowed Brazilian police authorities to take action against criminals accused of defrauding the social program aimed at Venezuelan seniors residing in this region of Brazil.
During the Federal Police operation, authorities conducted a series of raids—specifically 14—on law offices that handled the benefit. Investigations showed that the legal professionals allegedly recruited elderly individuals in Venezuela, falsifying their documents and records to fraudulently access the program.
The Investigation and Raids
In the cities of Boa Vista and Pacaraima, located on the border with Venezuela, the aforementioned raids took place to determine the responsibility of eight individuals linked to seven law firms.
It was revealed that a retired Civil Police officer was involved in the fraud and, according to investigations, allegedly facilitated the processing of irregular benefits.
The investigation detected the irregularity following complaints about beneficiaries of social programs who did not reside in Brazil. Suspected individuals were identified, including members of organized and independent criminal groups participating in the fraudulent acquisition of the Benefício de Atendimento ao Idoso (BPC-Loas).
The Major Fraud in the INSS
This incident led to the freezing of assets and valuables of those investigated, valued at approximately 16 million reais—equivalent to USD 2,815,456, based on our calculations—by the federal justice system in Brazil. These individuals are facing charges of aggravated fraud and conspiracy.
This irregularity is part of the fraud scheme identified at the Instituto Nacional de Segurança Social (INSS), which allegedly drained billions of reais from retirees and pensioners in Brazil.
For this reason, the president of the INSS, Alessandro Antonio Stefanutto, was ousted, along with other officials and a federal police officer.
Most affected retirees deny having authorized any deductions. The State Agency for Legal Defense (AGU, in Portuguese) has formed a special group to recover the stolen funds.