DiNapoli Seeks Congressional Probe over Lost Pension Checks

January 13, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – New York Attorney General Thomas P. DiNapoli has asked the U.S. House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform for an official probe into the loss of thousands of pension checks.

DiNapoli said in a letter to committee chair U.S. Representative Edolphus Towns that the U.S. Postal Service assured him it is investigating how its mistake was made, but he feels “a review from an independent source is warranted.”

The Postal Service picked up 60,000 checks from DiNapoli’s office for New York State and Local Retirement System pensioners on December 30, but then acknowledged they were lost or misplaced (see Thousands of NY State Pension Checks Missing). 

Saying he needed to reassure all pensioners that the underlying problem had been resolved, DiNapoli requested that Towns “initiate an investigation to determine the factors which allowed the U.S. Postal Service to misplace the pension checks, as well as to determine what corrective action the U.S. Postal Service should take to ensure this never happens again.” He concluded that the committee’s oversight would also benefit all Americans who count on receiving pension checks in the mail each month.

A news release from DiNapoli’s office said about 37,500 of the misplaced pension checks were cashed as of the end of the day on Monday.

DiNapoli’s letter is here.

«