(Trinidad Express) Almost 2,000 “dead” people were issued social support cheques by the Ministry of Social Development, some as recently as August 2021.
And a “large number of grant recipients” are living abroad and therefore are supposed to be ineligible for welfare support from the State.
This was revealed by Minister of Social Development Donna Cox in her budget contribution in the House of Representatives, at the Red House, Port of Spain, yesterday.
The minister reported a sharp increase in fraudulent activity, much of it relating to the fraudulent encashment of Senior Citizens’ Pension cheques.
“The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services’ database was triangulated against data from the Elections and Boundaries (Commission) and Death Registry of the Register General Department and found that 1,955 people to whom cheques were issued as recently as August 2021 were confirmed dead.
“Madam Speaker, some of the disability and pension cheques belonging to those 1,955 individuals are being cashed, the most significant, 81 per cent (of those cashed), being Senior Citizens’ Pension cheques,” she said.
Cox said a further 3,902 grants were identified for investigation.
She said this represented a marked increase in fraudulent activities across all grants, and 165 cases were under review by the Fraud Squad.
“A large number of grant recipients are residing abroad and are ineligible for support from the State. However, many are attempting to defraud this good country through amendments that I heard were made under the UNC administration to receive social support when they do not qualify,” Cox said.
“These individuals live outside of the country and do not meet the residential eligibility, (but) are making claims for social support. We are aware of this and a heightened sense of vigilance now abounds.”
Cox said in the last 12 months there had been an astounding increase in the number of clients affected by malicious, subculture behaviour.
“In this period, there was a 241-per cent increase in the number of reports to the TTPS (Trinidad and Tobago Police Service), with the majority of cases (151 per cent of the 241 per cent increase) involving Senior Citizens’ Pension,” she noted.
“While on one hand the Government is taking care of its senior citizens and adequately providing for them, there are others in society who see this as an opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of our older persons.
“Rest assured, Madam Speaker, and I want every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago to know that every effort is being made to ensure that the nation’s resources, intended to support the vulnerable, will reach them and that any and all nefarious activity will be halted, investigated and where possible prosecuted,” Cox said.
She said 68 such cases had engaged the attention of the TTPS.
New unit to deter fraudsters
Cox said the ministry continues to protect the most vulnerable in the population.
“As part of the thrust to reduce fraudulent conversion of pensioners’ cheques, the ministry will streamline its efforts to make direct payments into our clients’ bank accounts,” she said.
This initiative aims to bring the remaining 63,000 individuals, or 61 per cent of the pensioners, into the direct deposit system.
Cox said in light of the increase in fraudulent activity, the need for an internal investigation and compliance unit was also clear.
She said the ministry had received approval to proceed with this unit and intends to implement it by the first quarter of fiscal 2022.
This would have several benefits, including reducing the bottlenecks and delays caused by protracted investigations which cause increased hardship for the ministry’s clients; acting as a deterrent to fraudsters; promote confidence in the system of payments for over 18 grants; creating efficiency in public expenditure; and enhancing and expediting the problem-solving capability and capacity of the ministry.
