Brazil's Federal Police, in a preliminary investigation, allege that lobbyist Roberta Luchsinger asked Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, the eldest son of President Lula, to intervene to help close business deals sought by Antônio Camilo Antunes, known as 'Careca do INSS' (the INSS Baldy), with Brazil's Health Ministry. The report was first published by newspaper Folha de S.Paulo on Wednesday.
Messages accessed by police on the businesswoman's phone show pressure on Lulinha to join discussions over attempts to secure government contracts for a cannabidiol-derived product and dengue testing kits. According to the report, none of the contracts were ultimately signed. Antunes is one of the central figures in a wider scandal over improper deductions from retirees' benefits managed by the INSS, Brazil's national social security institute.
Timeline of the case
According to messages cited by police, on January 23, 2025, Luchsinger complained that Antunes was pressuring her to close the deals quickly but lacked the nerve to apply that same pressure directly on Lulinha. The exchanges show her maneuvering to move the deals forward before Fábio Luís relocated to Spain later that year. The material is part of a preliminary police probe and a formal request sent to Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça, who opened a judicial inquiry into the matter. The case file remains under seal.
What each side says
Contacted by Folha, Fábio Luís's defense said he began planning his move to Spain as early as 2024 and holds a professional relationship with a Spanish company that has no direct or indirect ties to the Brazilian government. In a statement, his lawyer Marco Aurélio de Carvalho said: 'He lives in Spain solely off the proceeds of his work. A simple life, but a dignified one, without the luxury they are describing.'
The defense denies Lulinha took any action to benefit Antunes's business interests. 'He never, at any point, made any intervention or attended any meeting,' the lawyer said, dismissing the police findings as speculative: 'There is nothing in the case file that contradicts this. What the Federal Police has is a puzzle of inferences, none of them conclusive.' Lawyers for Luchsinger and Antunes were contacted by Folha at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday and had not responded by the time of publication. Luchsinger's defense had previously said it would not comment on a sealed inquiry.
None of those named in the probe has so far been formally charged. The inquiry remains under Justice Mendonça's oversight at the Supreme Court, with no date set for its conclusion or for a possible indictment. Next steps depend on the Prosecutor General's Office reviewing the evidence gathered so far by the Federal Police.