Brazilian labor minister resigns over corruption

Brazilian Labor Minister Carlos Lupi stepped down Sunday for allegations of corruption and misconduct, and President Dilma Rousseff has accepted his resignation.

Over the past few weeks, Lupi has become the target of Brazil’s mainstream press which accused him of demanding kickbacks from charities and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in exchange for funding from the ministry.

He was also accused of receiving free air travel aboard a plane owned by the head of an NGO financed by the ministry. The latest allegation is that he received two government salaries at the same time, which is banned by Brazilian law.

Lupi announced his resignation in a statement on the Labor Ministry’s website.

In the statement, Lupi dismissed all accusations against him as “political and personal persecution.”

The Ethics Committee of the Brazilian Presidency on Wednesday confirmed the allegations about the private jet and his second payment. The committee unanimously recommended that Lupi be sacked for mismanagement.

Lupi, 57, is a member of the Democratic Labor Party. He became labor minister in 2007 and was assigned the portfolio again by Rousseff at the beginning of 2011.

More than 8 million jobs were created during his term, which is considered as the best employment situation of all times in the country.

Lupi was the sixth member of the Rousseff administration to step down for corruption since she became president in January. Before Lupi, the president’s chief of staff and ministers of transport, tourism, agriculture and sports had all departed over charges of corruption.