The "Inconsistencies" In the Payment of Judicial Sentences for Those Over 75
Until the closure of an AGN report, "ANSES had no program implemented for cancellation of pension liabilities due to readjustment of assets" and, therefore, the agency could not know if the current regulations were being complied with. Delays were detected in the liquidation of sentences and beneficiaries who, instead of receiving cash, received bonuses.
According to a report by the National Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish), the system of payment of judicial sentences for retirees and pensioners over 75 years of age records "inconsistencies" that do not allow to determine if the dependency that liquidates the debts owed by the National Administration Of Social Security (ANSES, for its acronym in Spanish), complies with current legislation in this area.
When the Watchdog carried out its work, approved in November 2008 on data from 2006, "ANSES had no general program implemented to cancel pension liabilities due to readjustment of assets," as established in Article 30 of the Budget 2006. On the other hand, "ANSES systems are not integrated," says the study, and explains that "data loading is done manually, at different times and for different databases, which causes errors." Among these errors, it should be noted that ANSES does not verify the dates of judgment, notification or birth of the beneficiaries, "fundamental" variables for the payment of sentences.
The regulations indicate that the liquidation of assets have priority for those over 75 years, or those who prove to suffer a terminal illness. Although the AGN asked ANSES for information on retirees and pensioners who fall within those requirements, the report indicates that this information could not be obtained. The Audit noted that "the inventory prepared by the ANSES as of December 19, 2006 does not contain the date of birth of the beneficiaries," and that the system "does not report sentencing notifications with the age" of those who must receive the assessments.
In addition, the regulations establish that the collection will be in cash and in a single payment. However, the AGN detected cases of beneficiaries "with more than 86 years who perceived their assets in bonds."
After the judgments, the filing of the files to the ANSES "depends on the speed of each court," says the control body, adding that this process is not done according to the age of the beneficiaries. The report also states that "delays in procedural time-limits have been detected, especially in the liquidation and liquidation of judgments," and points out that "39 cases with a seniority of more than 20 years and 35,357 with more than 9 years of age."
Other observations of the AGN include 17,185 records with no benefit number, which correspond to old records and "may or may not have an associated benefit;" 4,952 benefits that were repeated two to 10 times, plus other triplicates, quadrupled or quintupled, and the ANSES "gave no explanation." Records were also found "unrelated to the forecast material, with descriptions such as 'contests and bankruptcies', 'expropriations', 'royalties' and 'layoffs.'"
The work of the Audit also states that with the budget line allocated in 2006 to the payment of court judgments, $ 39,986,007.35 of other items were erroneously imputed as additional claims or administrative claims and it was found that the details of the records "Mendoza Police", "Sucesiones", "Acordadas", "Policía San Luis", "Policía Tucumán", "Excepciones" and "General Law."
Apart from these observations, the AGN stated that its work was "limited" because of the 98 files of court judgments it requested, "ANSES only sent 48 and six certified copies of cases from the provinces."