-four workers sacked over last year’s pension fraud
Four persons sent home last year from the Pensions Department of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) following an almost million-dollar fraud have been dismissed and the scheme is in court attempting to recoup $191M from delinquent employers and self-employed persons.
This is according to Public Relations Officer, Dianne Lewis Baxter.
The PRO was at the time providing answers to questions submitted by Stabroek News almost two months ago.
Lewis Baxter told Stabroek News that the internal investigation “into the publicized fraud has been completed, resulting in the re-instatement of all but four of the officers.”
This newspaper was told at the time that 18 persons, including the head of the department who had many years of service, were sent home following the fraud.
“Three of the four not reinstated were dismissed and the services of the other were terminated,” Lewis Baxter said, adding that the police is yet to conclude its investigations.
“Systems of operation throughout the scheme are continually monitored and where necessary, interventions for improvement are made,” the scheme’s spokesperson said.
Last year Stabroek News was told that four employees were behind the $900,000 fraud and questions were raised as to why the ten other employees were being made to suffer.
This newspaper was told that the four employees saw a way to “exploit the weaknesses” in the NIS system and they were able to print the pension books in the names of the dead persons although the Records Department would have inputted information which indicated that the persons had died. Sources had said this was because of a weakness in the computer system.
This newspaper was told that the details of four dead pensioners were used to effect pension payments.
According to reports the fraud started early in 2008 and it involved the printing of pension voucher books for the four pensioners who had died in 2006.
One source had said that the fraud was discovered in November of 2008 and it involved claims being made for the four dead pensioners dating back to 2006.
109 cases
On another issue Lewis Baxter told Stabroek News there are some 109 cases before the court involving delinquent employers and self-employed persons. She explained that sixteen of the cases relate to criminal charges while ninety-three are civil matters.
“They involve both employers and self-employed persons to the amount of approximately $191 million,” the public relations officer said.
And while she said the scheme “has never lost a case” she did not say how many cases were won and what percentages of the monies owed were recovered.
And according to Lewis Baxter since the NIS closed its drug distribution in the primary health care programme, contributors and pensioners have re-adjusted to the procedure for claiming benefits.
Last year the scheme had announced that NIS pensioners/ contributors must submit a prescription for drugs every three months. Some persons were upset about the change as they said it would require the pensioner to find the financial resources to obtain a prescription and meet transportation costs.
Reform
Meanwhile, more than two years after a report was submitted following a critical examination that was done in many areas of the scheme by a Reform Committee, Cabinet is still studying it but according to Lewis Baxter so far three of the recommendations made by the group have been addressed.
According to Lewis Baxter, in keeping with the recommendations there has been an increase in the annual funeral benefit while an aggressive programme of public education has been undertaken in an effort to explain the benefits being offered.
In addition to the scheme’s weekly television programme ‘NIS and You’ there have also been a number of meetings countrywide with members of the public.
Contributors are also receiving annual statements on their contributions.
The reform group had completed its report and submitted it to Cabinet Secretary and NIS Board Chairman Dr Roger Luncheon since early 2008 but since then there has been no official pronouncement on steps towards the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
Four sub-committees of the NIS Reform Committee were assigned to examine and make recommendations in relation to investment and financial management; benefits; legislation and compliance and information/communication technology, and organization and human resources.
Among the recommendations made by the legislation/compliance sub-committee are the re-establishment of a Legal Department within the scheme and the appointment of a Legal Adviser as Head of the Department.
It was pointed out that the strengthening of the capacity of the NIS to address legal matters was vitally important since several of those matters had a bearing on compliance issues which are of critical revenue-related importance to the scheme.
The report of the sub-committee also called for the amendment of the National Insurance Act to allow cases of compliance delinquency to be handled in the commercial court.
This recommendation was intended to expedite court proceedings in compliance cases which are likely to be handled more speedily through the commercial court.
The sub-committee on legislation/compliance also recommended further amendments to the NIS Act to allow for the garnishing of the assets of delinquents and the simplification of both the term self-employment and the mechanisms for the payment of contributions by self-employed persons.
It is understood that the focus of this recommendation seeks to eradicate the practice by some employers of deliberately and falsely designating some categories of employees as self-employed in order to evade liability for employer’s NIS contributions.
The proposed new regulations also seek to enable self-employed persons to receive short-term NIS benefits.
