This is my translation of something I found on a Brazilian website. The original Portuguese and the link to the text are at the end of my translation.
People charged with faking disability claim they were miraculously healed by God
Elpídio Ardigó, who in 1982 was granted early retirement on disability, with a diagnosis of renal disease, states: "[My disease] has no cure. But nothing is impossible for my God".
An investigation by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina [Brazil] resulted in alleged social security fraud by former public officials, who were granted early retirement on disability but were never able to prove they had such. Experts examined almost 200 technical reports related to former public officers who were deemed unable to continue working but do not exhibit any symptoms [of their alleged diseases].
Among those under investigation is Elpídio Ardigó, who was granted early retirement in 1982 with a diagnosis of renal disease. "[My disease] has no cure. But nothing is impossible for my God. I can't explain the miracle to you; I have no way to do that; it's a mistery from God", Elpídio said. Doctor Nicolau Heuko Jr answered: "It is impossible for this person to have healed without a transplant. That just does not happen". Yesterday, 16 October, a report on Fantástico [a TV show], aired by Rede Globo [a big television network] showed footage of Elpídio, taken with a hidden camera and, in the course of the conversation, the retiree admitted to never having received any treatment for [renal] disease.
Yet another retiree, Ms. Jandira Rodrigues, who was granted early retirement on disability, also states that her recovery was miraculous. The doctor said that a person afflicted with ankylosing spondylitis, Jandira's disease, cannot walk normally and the prognosis is for a worsening of the disease. "Over time, a person with spondylitis loses flexibility of the backbone and the pelvis. As a result, the backbone bends forward and the person [has to] assume the stance of a skier, therefore losing the ability to walk normally", said Nicolau. Jandira retorted: "But my disease never got worse. Why didn't I get any worse? I can't say. Because what I have is my own. It's my faith".
These two people retired from public service at the same time and are now under investigation for social security fraud. The investigation revealed that the Legislative Assembly of Santa Catarina is the country's leader in terms of early retirement on disability, with 46% of all people receiving pensions [claiming a disability], more than twice as much as the Brazilian average of public officials with disabilities.
Adriano Zanotto, president of the Santa Catarina Social Security Institute (IPREV, for its Portuguese initials), stands behind the investigation. "If fraud and bad faith by the beneficiaries are proved, that will have a number of consequences. The first, by IPREV, will be to revoke the benefit of pension payments. We will not make such payments any longer", Zanotto said.
Personally, I believe these people only found a friendly doctor who agreed to give a diagnosis of disability -maybe for money- and, once the number of cases was so high that the authorities had to dig into them, they just came up with an easy explanation, one that cannot be proved, or disproved, for that matter, but one that many people will find reasons to believe or at least consider possible.
I also think that at least the honesty of these found sheep is in question. They didn't go back to work when they found themselves miraculously healed. That would be fraud; they could work, but woud have chosen to stay at home instead. Either that, or the miracle is a miracle twice: it happened, and it happened just before public officials found about the cases.
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Acusados de fingir invalidez afirmam terem sido curados por milagre de Deus
Elpídio Ardigó, que foi afastado por invalidez em 1982 com o diagnóstico de uma doença nos rins afirma: “Não tem cura. Mas para o meu Deus, não tem nada impossível".
Uma investigação feita pela Assembleia Legislativa do Estado de Santa Catarina apontou supostas fraudes de ex-servidores públicos que se aposentaram por invalidez, porém nunca conseguiram provar a doença. Os peritos examinaram quase 200 laudos de servidores considerados inválidos, mas que não apontam sintomas.
Entre os investigados está Elpídio Ardigó, que foi afastado por invalidez em 1982 com o diagnóstico de uma doença nos rins.“Não tem cura. Mas para o meu Deus, não tem nada impossível. Agora não te explico o milagre, não dá para explicar, é mistério de Deus”, afirma Elpídio. O médico Nicolau Heuko Filho contesta: “Impossível esta pessoa ter cura sem transplante, isso não existe”. Ontem, 16/10, uma reportagem exibida pelo Fantástico, da Rede Globo, gravou Elpídio com uma câmera escondida, e na conversa, o aposentado admitiu que nunca fez tratamento para a doença.
Outra aposentada, Jandira Rodrigues, que foi afastada por invalidez, também afirma que teve uma recuperação milagrosa. O médico afirma que uma pessoa portadora da doença de Jandira, Espondilite Anquilosante, não consegue caminhar normalmente e que a tendência é piorar. “O portador de espondilite com o tempo vai perdendo a flexibilidade da coluna e da bacia. Com isso, a coluna vai encurvando para a frente e ela vai chegar ao ponto de adotar a posição do esquiador, e com isso ele perde a capacidade da caminhada normal”, afirma Nicolau. Jandira se defende: “Mas eu não piorei da doença. Por que eu não piorei? Eu não posso falar. Porque o que eu tenho é uma coisa minha. É a minha fé”.
Os dois foram afastados do serviço público na mesma época, e agora são investigados por fraude contra a previdência. O inquérito revela que a Assembleia Legislativa de Santa Catarina é a campeã nacional de aposentadorias por invalidez. São 46% do total de pensionistas, mais que o dobro da média brasileira de inválidos no serviço público.
O presidente do Iprev (Instituto de Previdência de Santa Catarina), Adriano Zanotto defende as investigações. “Se ficar comprovado que houve fraude e má fé do beneficiário, terão uma série de consequências. A primeira delas, por parte do Iprev, vai ser cassar o benefício de aposentadoria, nós vamos parar de pagar a aposentadoria”, afirma Zanotto.