Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 11, 2014 News
…recipient was born in 1954 but had been working since 1946
As the country continues to brace itself for history making events occurring within the political spectrum, the controversial City Hall has also ensured its place in the spotlight. The City’s municipal body is once again caught in a fraud scandal where a retired staffer who had gone missing for 11 years, allegedly sent an individual to uplift his $2.6M in unpaid pension dues.
Fingers are pointed at several persons, especially those in the Council’s personnel department for not verifying information provided on the pensioner. This is because there are some glaring inconsistencies with the documentation provided to the Council’s staffers. Yet the money was paid out without the necessary checks being conducted, Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green told Kaieteur News.
Chase-Green who is at this time acting Mayor, has since written to the Auditor General for an investigation into the matter. Town Clerk (Ag) Carol Sooba has also reported the matter to the Minister of Local Government and has filed a formal complaint with the police.
Kaieteur News was told that on June 22, 1977, one Hubert Clarke, an Assistant Superintendent of the City Constabulary retired from the agency. He would have been 23 years old at the time of his retirement according to the passport provided as a form of identification.
From 1977, Clarke was receiving his pension up until 2003, when he ceased visiting the agency for his allowance.
Chase-Green explained that according to records there is no information stating why the man had stopped coming for his pension and what might have happened to him.
However, in the last two weeks, she explained, a named individual said to be a representative of Mr. Clarke appeared at the treasurer’s office to claim the man’s unpaid pension from 2003 to date. Chase-Green charged that despite the stated guidelines and regulations in place, the staffers handling the matter did not see it fit to request for example, life certificates or any documentation to prove the man’s existence.
She said that the named individual walked with an alleged authorized letter purportedly to be from Clarke and a copy of his passport. Chase-Green charged however that in the year 1977, the retirement age at the time was 65 years old; she said that from then, to 2003 when he stopped collecting his pension, would have been 26 years.
With that time added to his age of 65, in 2003 the pensioner would have been 91 years old. Additionally, from 2003 to 2014, the pensioner did not receive his pension for 11 years. Eleven years added to him already being 91, Clarke would have been around 102 years old today.
This however did not ring any bells, Chase-Green said to ensure that the man was still alive and that his claim was authentic.
The Deputy Mayor said that the passport presented for Clarke shows that he was born on August 6, 1954. This would mean that in 1977, Clarke would have retired at age 23. The Council’s documents showed also that while the passport shows the man’s birth at 1954, records pertaining to his employment dated as far back as 1946.
“Even if (passport information) was true then Clarke would have been owed pension for five years after retiring at the current retirement age of 55 which he would have attained in 2009,” Chase-Green posited. “Why then did they choose to pay out for 11 years when the passport conflicts with the record?”
Chase-Green said that records from the Council’s Personnel Department show that following Clarke’s retirement there has been no other. The Deputy Mayor continued that when checks were made about the money, various explanations were received from the staff.
One by the City Treasurer Ron McCalman, she said, was that he had spoken to the pensioner and that (the pensioner) informed that he urgently needed the money for medical purposes since he was at a named hospital. However, Chase-Green said that subsequent checks made to the various health institutions proved that none had any such person registered there.
She said that when a lower level staff within the Treasurer’s Department was questioned, it was stated that Clarke had visited the Council but had sat in a vehicle and did not enter the building. The information provided by the individual who uplifted the money seems useless, Chase-Green said, including the address which was given as 2500 Cane View, South Ruimveldt Gardens.
She charged that while some persons, months after retiring, are being asked to come in person for their pension, a representative for a missing pensioner was able to uplift money. “The Council has allowed $2.6M to slip through its hands,” Chase-Green lamented.
Sooba told Kaieteur News that she is very unhappy about the way things played out. She said that the cheque for the pensioner would have come to her to countersign, but she is dependent on her officers to ensure that all procedures and regulations are followed.
“I cannot go through all the transactions bit by bit to ensure that they are authentic.”
Sooba is convinced that it might have been an internal job since it is believed that Clarke might be deceased and someone at the Council had to have known that he was not collecting his pension. The matter would be brought to the Mayor and Councilors’ attention the Town Clerk stated.
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