A former PT campaign strategist, Danielle Miranda Fonteles, told Brazil’s Federal Police that Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha and the son of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, visited technical sites and factories in Portugal where businessman Antônio Carlos Camilo Antunes, nicknamed “Careca do INSS,” planned to produce cannabis-based medicines. In her testimony, Fonteles said Lulinha was invited by Antunes, who investigators allege was the main operator in a corruption scheme that diverted about 4 billion reais from pension funds intended for elderly retirees.
Fonteles said Lulinha did not speak much during the visits and had no active role in the negotiations. According to her account, she worked as a consultant on the project after moving to Portugal in 2019, where she advised Brazilian entrepreneurs seeking to do business in Europe. She said she met Antunes there, describing him at the time as an unknown businessman from the pharmaceutical sector who wanted to set up a cannabis-products factory. She told police she was hired to help structure the project and received 4,000 euros per month. She denied being a partner in Antunes’s ventures.
The testimony became part of a broader Federal Police investigation into alleged multibillion-real fraud involving INSS pensions. Investigators suspect that Lulinha may have been used by Antunes to open doors in influential circles in Brasília and Portugal. A former executive linked to the scheme reportedly said the president’s son received a monthly payment of 300,000 reais from the operation, though this claim has not been confirmed by the defense.
Fonteles also came under scrutiny after reports that she received 5 million reais from one of the companies linked to Antunes. She said the money was related to installments from a real estate transaction with him. Her name was previously associated with Brazil’s Acronym Operation, which investigated fictitious contracts and payments from construction firms allegedly used to finance Workers’ Party campaigns. At that time, she headed Pepper Comunicação Interativa.
Lulinha’s lawyers said the testimony adds nothing new and noted that he had already publicly explained the trip on his own initiative. They argued that the trip took place before Antunes’s connection to the INSS scandal was known and said he was then seen as a successful figure in the pharmaceutical business. The defense denied any direct or indirect involvement by Fábio Luís in Antunes’s activities and rejected claims that he received money from the businessman or any of his companies. According to attorney Marco Aurélio Carvalho, the testimony actually reinforces the position that Lulinha had no involvement in any illegal conduct.
