Six employees of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) were sent home following the discovery of a fraud of just under one million dollars in the pension scheme department, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon has said.

At his weekly press briefing yesterday, Luncheon said the NIS board was recently advised about the fraud which involves the “corrupt practices by some members of staff in the pension branch by the falsification of records,” which allowed them to receive monies of pensioners who have gone to the great beyond. He said the investigation targeted specific members of staff after conclusive evidence of involvement was discovered. He said the police have since been called in and they are also investigating the fraud which dates back to 2006.  The management was given the approval of the board to move ahead “quickly to bring this matter to a closure.”