Thousands of NY State Pension Checks Missing

January 12, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The U.S. Postal Service informed New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office that hundreds of pension checks for retirees in the central New York area were found on Saturday.

However, a news release from DiNapoli’s office said that, as of the end of the day on Friday, only about 28,000 pension checks had been cashed out of 60,000 that were mailed. According to news reports, the Postal Service picked up the 60,000 checks from DiNapoli’s office on December 30, but then acknowledged they were lost or misplaced. 

A Postal Service spokeswoman said the checks were mixed with bulk and advertising mail by mistake and were routed from Albany to Springfield, Massachusetts, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Associated Press reported. Classified as junk mail, checks headed to Buffalo and Rochester made it to their destination Thursday, six days after they were expected.

Spokesperson Emily DeSantis said the comptroller’s office has asked the Postal Service to investigate.

The DiNapoli news release said his office received a total of 4,400 re-issue requests to date, and approximately 1,100 such checks were mailed through Monday.

«