Overview
- Novo lawmakers filed a case at Brazil’s audit court accusing the Attorney General’s Office and the Justice Ministry of failing to pursue overseas asset freezes in the ‘Careca do INSS’ probe and asked for an urgent order to compel action.
- The filing seeks firm deadlines and a detailed recovery plan from both bodies, and the court has not issued a decision.
- The case stems from a Federal Police investigation that says retirees and pensioners lost R$3.3 billion to illegal payroll deductions led by businessman Antônio Carlos Camilo Antunes.
- Investigators link part of the proceeds to Camilo & Antunes Limited in the British Virgin Islands, which they say bought about R$11 million in Brazilian property to conceal assets.
- The Attorney General’s Office says it cannot freeze assets abroad without a formal cooperation request to foreign authorities, while Novo warns delays risk public money because the government approved R$3.3 billion to reimburse victims.