Carlos Lupi had been at the centre of a storm over revelations that unions and other associations skimmed off part of people’s pensions, with the possible collusion of officials from the National Social Security Institute.

The head of the INSS, which administers pensions, was removed from his post last week over the allegations.

Four other INSS officials and a federal police officer were also suspended.

The office of the comptroller, which combats state corruption, said it detected unauthorised deductions from pensions for services such as legal assistance that many retirees said they never signed up for or received.

The investigation is focusing on 6.3 billion reais (about US$1.1 billion) in deductions between 2019 and 2024.

It is unclear how much of that sum was taken illegally.

This is the second corruption case in under a month to topple a member of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s left-wing government.

In early April, communications minister Juscelino Filho resigned after being charged with taking bribes while he was a congressman in 2022.

Corruption is a sensitive issue for Lula, who himself served 1.5 years in prison in 2018-2019 for allegedly taking bribes.

His conviction was later annulled on the grounds that the judge in the trial had been biased.

The annulment allowed Lula to seek, and win, a third presidential term in 2022, but the whiff of corruption turned him into a pariah for many Brazilians.