Page 12 - October 2015

The truth about payments to deceased members
Last month Chicago Sun-Times reporters, Chris Fusco and Patrick Rehkamp, wrote an article titled, “Pensioners die, but retirement pay keeps coming,” published on Sept. 14. The crux of this story, as I interpreted it, was to have readers believe that it is more common than they think for a person who is receiving a retirement pension to continue to collect said benefit in his or her name long after passing away. Of course, this could only happen because of dysfunctional bureaucratic proce-
dures. Mr. Fusco and Mr. Rehkamp began their article by slamming our pension fund for having an individual collect a widow’s benefit fraudulently. I believe the reporters misled readers to believe that they alone discovered what had hap- pened and how, and if it wasn’t for them, the fund would be still sending out a monthly check to a deceased member.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Our pension fund employs the firm “Small World Inc.” which notifies the fund in the event of a member’s death. Regardless of where the member may have resided, somehow this firm is right on it. In the case cited in the Sun-Times story, however, the death of the member who was receiving the benefit went unreported. Keep this in mind: On extremely rare occasions, incidents such as this happen at pension funds in the public sector and private sector. The massive U.S. government enti- ty that includes the military, Social Security, welfare, etc. is no exception. Yes, sometimes a deceased person notification may go unreported, either by non-criminal or criminal means. In our case, the mistake was caught and corrected without hesitation.
The fund’s in-house investigation began after I received a phone call from a law firm that purchased a house at a fore- closure sale concerning the member in question. When receiving the particulars about this purchase, I sat down with members of the fund’s staff, pulled files and records and made several phone calls to clarify what we now sus- pected would be a criminal investigation.
After reviewing records at the Cook County Medical Exam- iner’s Office, I confirmed that the member had passed away some four years earlier. Back at the fund, I collected our financial records of the member. Shortly thereafter, I met with Detective Mike Zuber and Detective Sandy Bryant who are assigned to the Financial Crimes Unit at Harrison and Kedzie to initiate the criminal process. After completing the case report, (HW385800) signing felony complaints on behalf of the fund and turning over all the documents to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office with an explanation how this scam began, our two detectives began working dili-
gently during the next two years to bring the daughter of the deceased officer to justice. (I can’t even begin to guess how many trips to CitiBank with subpoenas these two detectives made). Our friends in the U.S. Marshall’s office located our offender in Indiana and returned her to 26th and California to stand trial for felony theft.
Our subject, Erika Gibson, pled out to felony theft. Of the $80,000 dollars she stole from the fund, $78,000 was recov- ered and is to be paid back per an arrangement made with the courts. However, the fund has only collected just over $10,000 from Gibson. If Gibson fails to pay back the monies, I will continue to prosecute this person as long as I’m your trustee. I was never looking for a pat on the back. This was a team effort. What I would have liked to have seen was a piece of truthful reporting from the Sun-Times that gave readers a true account of events and the team of Chicago Patrolmen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund staff members, Financial Crimes Unit Detectives and the Cook County States Attorney’s office who brought this to closure.
I may not write as clever as a reporter, but I will always write the facts fairly and honestly.
Reminder to all
Please take the time to call the fund at 312-744-3891 to ensure that your documents are up to date. You will be asked for your social security number to confirm we are talking with the correct person.
When events change in your life, such as a marriage, divorce, death of spouse, birth or adoption of a child, or if you have a disabled child, we need a certified copy of each event to input into your record. Case in point: an officer who, as a recruit years ago was married with no kids, gets divorced and remarries years later. This same officer expe- riences the joy of having a few kids during the next 15 years, and suddenly he passes away. Our records indicated the first wife was the only person listed on his death benefit. Neither the current wife nor his kids are entitled to any benefit the officer had contributed. So please, take the time to make this very important call.
Administrative Review information
As your trustee, I’m always looking at ways to provide information you find interesting. The fund is involved in sev- eral legal cases before any number of courts. Generally, these cases involve members suing the Board after being denied a duty disability benefit. Almost all of the cases on my watch that went to Administrative Review or to the Appellate Court ruled that the Board made the correct deci- sion. Having said this, I will make every attempt to reprint a legal brief each and month:
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
PENSION NEWS UPDATE
MICHAEL K. LAPPE PENSION TRUSTEE
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2015 13