The executive secretary of the Ministry of Social Security, Adroaldo Portal, had preventive detention ordered and is the target of the new phase of Operation Without Discount, launched by the Federal Police, this Thursday morning (18). He is accused of involvement in the national scheme of unauthorized discounts on retirement and pensions from the National Social Security Institute (INSS).
The Minister of Social Security, Wolney Queiroz, ordered Portal’s dismissal and informed that the Executive body and the INSS will continue to actively contribute to the investigations and work to recover the resources diverted by the scheme.
Federal attorney Felipe Cavalcante e Silva, current legal advisor to the ministry, was appointed to assume the role of executive secretary at the Ministry of Social Security.
“This government does not protect anyone and the proof of this is that there is broad freedom for the control bodies, the CGU, the Federal Police, to investigate all spheres of the government, so that we can find who was responsible for the fraud and get back every penny”, declared the minister.
According to Wolney Queiroz, there was no search and seizure at the agency’s facilities and the Ministry had not received any information that would raise suspicion about any involvement of the secretary in the retirement and pension discount scheme..
“We did not have any real information about Adroaldo’s involvement in any type of suspicious act. Secretary Adroaldo arrived before me here at the Ministry, fulfilling his duties as an applied and competent technician as National Secretary of the General Social Security Regime”, he declared.
The Federal Police operation carries out 52 search and seizure warrants, 16 preventive arrest warrants and other precautionary measures, authorized by Minister André Mendonça, of the Federal Supreme Court, in the states of São Paulo, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais and Maranhão, in addition to the Federal District.
One of the search and seizure warrants was carried out at the residence of Senator Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA), who informed, in a note, that he received the search carried out by the Federal Police with surprise. The information adds that the parliamentarian “will calmly make himself available to clarify any doubts as soon as he has full access to the decision”.
The vice-president of the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) that investigates undue discounts in the National Congress, deputy Duarte Jr (PSB-MA) declared that he will call on the senator to provide clarifications. “It is not up to CPMI to shield anyone. Our role is to listen to everyone who needs to provide clarification on the facts, without exceptions, with transparency and responsibility”, he declared.
According to the Federal Police, the new stage of the operation aims to deepen the investigations into Operation Without Discount and clarify the practice of crimes of inserting false data into official systems, setting up a criminal organization, social security fraud and acts of concealment and property dilapidation.
