NewsWhore
02-05-2007, 04:50 PM
The Armed Forces pension checks saga, which was first brought to light by Diario Libre, continued over the weekend. The national treasurer, Ruben Pena, confirms in an article in Saturday's Diario Libre that millions of pesos worth of paychecks and pension checks were "diverted". The official told Diario Libre reporters that he had discussed this case with President Leonel Fernandez, in the presence of Armed Forces Minister Ramon Aquino Garcia, during the government's last cabinet meeting. Aquino Garcia said that he does not know of any reports sent to the President about this alleged mafia that dealt with paychecks. The General announced that he would be launching an investigation into the case. At the same time, officials from the Treasury and Controllers offices reached an agreement with the military and police that will identify all the pensioners within 60 days. Ruben Pena told Diario Libre reporter Esteban Delgado that the creation of a computerized system of payment by checks was one of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements, and although he did not confirm the RD$90 million sum cited by the original Diario Libre report, he admitted that millions of pesos were involved in the case. In the past, the Treasury would write a check for the total amount of the monthly National Police and the Armed Forces payrolls. These institutions would, in turn, issue checks to individual payees, both active and pensioners. With the new computerized system, the Treasury will send the funds directly to each person's account at the Banco de Reservas. The problem arose when the system was cross checking the accounts and found problems with 9,000 pensioners on the Armed Forces list and 3,000 pensioners on the National Police list. These people did not have proper identification ("cedulas") and, therefore, could not have opened accounts at the bank.
The Armed Forces, through a note from the Retirement Board signed by Major General Andres Apolinario Disla, rejected the idea of a "diversion" of the pension money. The note said that there were 8,824 retirees who did not have proper "cedulas", and that the treasurer knows this.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
The Armed Forces, through a note from the Retirement Board signed by Major General Andres Apolinario Disla, rejected the idea of a "diversion" of the pension money. The note said that there were 8,824 retirees who did not have proper "cedulas", and that the treasurer knows this.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)