Mendonça orders release of former INSS prosecutor jailed since 2025

Minister André Mendonça, of Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), ordered the release of the former INSS prosecutor Virgilio, who had been in pre-trial detention since 2025. The decision also benefited Samuel Crisóstomo do Bomfim Júnior, accountant of Conafer (National Confederation of Family Farmers and Rural Family Entrepreneurs). Both are investigated in the case of frauds in pension discounts and pensions of the INSS.

The measure countered the demonstration of the Attorney General's Office (PGR), which had advocated the maintenance of preventive detention. In April, the minister had already sent to the PGR requests for the revocation of arrests of those investigated for fraud at the INSS. Now, Mendonça understood that precautionary detention was no longer necessary at the intensity previously verified.

Precautionary measures imposed on investigators

In addition to repealing the arrests, the minister ordered that Virgil deliver the passport and be prohibited from maintaining contact with investigators and witnesses of the case. The restrictions are aimed at ensuring procedural instruction and avoiding interference with the collection of evidence. The decision does not acquit the investigators, but replaces the arrest with less burdensome measures.

In the dispatch, Mendonça wrote: "This conclusion does not weaken the imputation, does not disregard the elements already produced and does not anticipate any pronouncement about guilt or innocence. Replacing preventive detention only means recognizing that the measure, as a precautionary instrument, is no longer necessary at the intensity previously verified. It does not mean acquitting the investigated.”

The minister’s speech reinforces the procedural character of the decision, without going into the merits of the accusations. The PGR, in turn, had positioned itself for the maintenance of the prisons, indicating divergence between the organs of the justice system. The source did not elaborate on the arguments presented by the Prosecutor's Office.

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Investigation Finds Millionaire Transfers

According to the Federal Police report cited by the report, Virgílio and people close to him received R$ 11.9 million from Antônio Carlos Camilo Antunes, known as "Careca do INSS". The lobbyist is indicated as an intermediary of entities that would have benefited from the scheme of irregular discounts on benefits of the INSS.

The amount, according to PF, would have been passed over the period investigated, although the source did not detail the exact chronology of the payments. Conafer, an organization to which Samuel Crisóstomo do Bomfim Júnior was linked as an accountant, is among those investigated in the case of INSS discounts.

Samuel was arrested in Operation No Discount and is among the 48 indictees indicted by the PF in July 2026. The operation dismantled an alleged scheme of unauthorized discounts on pension benefits, which would have caused losses to retirees and pensioners across the country.

Repercussions and next steps

The release of Virgil and Samuel occurs at a time of intense discussion about the duration of preventive detention in complex cases. Mendonça’s decision may influence other requests for revocation of prisons in the same investigation, since the minister is the rapporteur of the case in STF.

With the revocation, the investigators will respond to the process at liberty, by complying with the precautionary measures. The Federal Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office are continuing with the investigations, and new phases of the operation are not ruled out. The source did not specify whether there would be an appeal against the decision.

The case remains under partial secrecy, and the next steps involve the analysis of documents and testimonials already collected. The process is expected to advance to the final allegations phase in the coming months, although there is no set deadline. The defense of the investigators has not been publicly expressed so far.

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