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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Zimbabwe: Pension Fund in Corruption Scam |
| 2018-06-23 |
| [All Africa] A probe into the Unified Councils Pension Fund (UCPF) has unearthed massive abuse of funds amid evidence the board pocketed US$8,7 million in allowances, sitting fees and staff salaries between 2010 and December 2017 at a time the fund did not honour pension obligations to members, an audit report shows. This comes after the Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) in February suspended six executives from the fund to allow investigations into the scandal. The fund manager Benjamin Chiyangwa, Brian Rusere (finance officer), Peter Chiyangwa (benefits officer), Masceline Mbukwa (internal auditor), Beular Musanhi (personal assistant) and Martha Kunaka (Bulawayo branch manager) were sent on forced leave as a result of the probe. Information seen by businessdigest this week shows that the US8,7 million was lost at a time when the fund was unable to timely pay pension benefits that were due to members of the fund. As at December 31 2017, outstanding benefits and arrears amounted to US$693 000. Investigators found that the board of trustees was conflicted and acted in a self-serving manner to execute its fiduciary responsibilities as expected of trustees. According to the findings, members of the board of trustees were remunerated as if they were full-time employees of the fund with monthly allowances of at least US$1 265 plus sitting allowances. In 2015 and 2016, US$700 000 was spent towards the allowances and welfare of the 16-member board of trustees, while from 2010 to 2017 some of the trustees received personal loans totalling US$243 000 at an interest rate of 1% per annum. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 As at December 31 2017, outstanding benefits and arrears amounted to US$693 000. An arrears that equates to less than one downstate, Illinois school district. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-06-23 09:24 |