Her paternal grandfather, Oreste Loschi, was an Italian immigrant born into a farming family in the commune of Carpi (province of Modena).

[2] She was the trial judge who on May 14, 1993, convicted 14 racketeers who control the lucrative Jogo do Bicho (the “animal game” – an illegal but popular numbers gamble) in Rio de Janeiro.

[6] "The animal game is a deeply embedded cultural phenomenon with a certain romantic aura, and thus hard to eradicate," according to Frossard.

[8] After the judgment in 1993, she spent a year in the United States, returning to head the Brazilian branches of Transparency International and the Women's Bank.

[2] In 2002, she was elected as federal representative for the Socialist People's Party (Partido Popular Socialista, PPS) to the Chamber of Deputies.