Brazil: Brazil’s Social Security Minister Carlos Lupi has resigned just nine days after federal police uncovered a sweeping corruption scandal that defrauded pensioners of an estimated $1.1 billion (approximately £829 million).
The probe revealed that over the past decade, the National Social Security Institute (INSS) made unauthorised deductions from the pensions of millions of Brazilians. According to investigators, the funds were funneled to associations and unions, many of them falsely registering pensioners as members without their knowledge, before being siphoned off by corrupt officials.
Police said the fraud disproportionately targeted impoverished regions, where victims were less likely to detect or report the irregularities. The federal police spokesperson stated that, “The deductions were often small but persistent, making them harder to notice.”
Lupi, who denies any wrongdoing, stated that he ordered an internal investigation as soon as the allegations came to light. Despite this, mounting political pressure and public outcry led to his resignation.
The head of the INSS stepped down, and six public servants have already been dismissed. Débora Floriano, the INSS’s director of budgets and finance, said a task force will be created to recover the stolen funds, although the full scale of the fraud remains unclear. Investigators believe over 6 billion reais were diverted between 2019 and 2024.
Lupi is the second member of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s cabinet to exit with corruption accusations in less than a month. In April, Communications Minister Juscelino Filho resigned after being charged with accepting bribes in 2022.
Lula, who returned to the presidency in 2023, has long been dogged by corruption controversies. He spent 18 months in prison following a conviction that was later annulled, clearing the path for his political comeback.
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