A disgrace to other civil servants

'PETALING JAYA: A retired civil servant who was supposed to receive a monthly RM214.33 pension – received a hundred times that amount instead.

This was revealed in the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report, which said that the error was due to a decimal point error by the Public Service Department (PSD) and the Post Service Division (BP), the departments in charge of pension funds for government staff.

The particular retiree, now deceased, had received RM21,433 for 16 months.

The report said the pensioner had died in 2007, but due to the error, the government had to recover the overpaid sum by deducting from the retiree’s pension since July 2007 and will continue until May 2044.

“It was found that because of one misplaced decimal point, it has caused an overpayment of pension amounting to RM133,051 since January 2006 to May 2007,” said the report.'

Rest of the article:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/10/25/millions-paid-to-dead-pensioners/

The right thing to do when one discovers an overpayment is to inform about the mistake, after all the money is not yours. On the face of it, the recipient had been dishonestly receiving more than Rm20,000 each month, and kept quiet about it until his death! To give him the benefit of the doubt, the money could have been credited to his bank account, without him realizing that he had been over-paid. If so, then the money should still be in his account and not having to claim from his heirs until 2044!

The other point is that it does not add up:

If according to the report, it was due to the misplacement of decimal point, then the difference should have been (21,433 - 214.33) Rm21,218.67, and for 16 months, the total overpayment should have been Rm339,498.72 and not only 133,051. I find it necessary to check figures given in reports and not accept them at face value. So which is correct?

The impression I get from such an unforgivable mistake is that one or all of the following: the civil servant involved, his immediate superior, his head of department, and ultimately, the Chief Secretary, is or are useless. There were no apparent internal controls, check and balances, reasonableness tests, or even common sense!

Honestly, I would not rule out collusion among the civil servants involved in approving payments.
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