State and Albany County investigators, looking into the possibly illegal mishandling of state pension fund investments, are examining the circumstances behind the demotion of a top deputy under AlanHevesi, the former comptroller who pleaded guilty in December to defrauding the government.

Several weeks ago, investigators with the state attorney general’s office and the Albany County district attorney’s office spent hours interviewing Jacques Jiha, who served as deputy comptroller for pension investment and public finance between January 2003 and April 2004.

In his position, Mr. Jiha, who worked previously as a deputy New York City comptroller under Hevesi, was in charge of managing the assets of the New York Common Retirement Fund, which was valued at the time at about $120 billion.

Mr. Jiha told investigators that Jack Chartier, Hevesi’s former chief of staff, would frequently approach Mr. Jiha and encourage him to meet with private equity managers about handling pension fund investments.

Mr. Jiha told The New York Sun that Mr. Chartier’s suggestions did not influence the process he oversaw for recruiting and selecting investment managers, who are reviewed by internal and outside experts.

Among other allegations concerning the office, investigators are examining whether Mr. Chartier illegally obtained a loan for his friend, actress Peggy Lipton, from a firm with pension fund business.

A little over a year into the job, Mr. Jiha was removed from his position and made deputy comptroller for policy, where he was no longer responsible for reviewing pension fund investments.

Mr. Jiha would not comment on the circumstances behind his forced transfer. He left the job shortly thereafter and now works as the chief financial officer of Earl G. Graves Ltd., which owns Black Enterprise magazine.

Hevesi replaced Mr. Jiha with David Loglisci, an investment banker who resigned from his position shortly after Hevesi’s successor, Thomas DiNapoli, took office.

Mr. DiNapoli on Monday said hundreds of pages of internal records related to pension fund investments were missing from Mr. Loglisci’s desk after he resigned. Most of the documents were later recovered and turned over to investigators, Mr. DiNapoli said.

Investigators are reportedly looking into whether Hevesi’s children and one of his top aides illegally profited from Hevesi’s control of the pension fund.

The New York Times reported that investigators are examining the ties between the comptroller’s office and Hank Morris, a political consultant to Hevesi who the Times said received millions of dollars in compensation for his role as a member of the board of a company that processed trades for the pension fund.

The Times also reported that investigators are reviewing details of political contributions made by investment firms and executives to Hevesi’s son, Andrew Hevesi, an assemblyman of Queens.