Police to probe Linden NIS Pension scam

THE POLICE IS TO OPEN A PROBE into allegations of pension fraud perpetrated against
Ms. Eula Hicks, a 91-year-old resident of the bauxite mining town of Linden a usually reliable
source confirmed.
Hicks, of Half Mile Wismar, tried unsuccessfully earlier this month to collect her National
Insurance Scheme (NIS) pension because someone had fraudulently uplifted the money.
NIS Linden officials could offer the nonagenarian no plausible explanation for the lapse and its
Manager, Ms. Gweneth Bourne, promised to get details from the Georgetown office and give
feedback to www.aroundtheregions.com the media house that broke the story.
One week after, Bourne has failed to keep her promise of contacting the NIS head office in the
capital according to officials there. Bourne failed to answer numerous calls to her office. Each
time an official would claim “she in a meeting”.
“The truth is that we find it very strange that Ms. Bourne never told us here in Georgetown about
this situation. We will certainly have to speak to Ms. Bourne to determine why and what really
happened,” a senior official said speaking on the conditions of anonymity.
The official noted that while facts have established that someone other than Eula Hicks drew the
money, they cannot jump to conclusions about what really transpired.
“We will have to firstly retrieve that voucher and then take it from there as we would attempt to
see if the signature of the person can be identified in trying to track them down. This is not an
open and close situation and it may take time,” the official explained.
Bourne’s behaviour though is raising concerns among many citizens.

“She gave the assurance that she is seeking the voucher from Georgetown and now there is
something else being said. It is as though the manager is seeking time to destroy whatever
evidence and/or cover whoever tracks that need to be covered. I find it very strange that
Georgetown was never informed of the situation and this is very unacceptable,” a relative of
pensioner Eula Hicks complained.
One of Ms. Hicks children said she and other siblings will be pressing for the police involvement
in the fraud. The source told www.aroundtheregions.com that the police will open investigations.
“This is fraud and somebody has to pay because this cannot go unnoticed. Someone either with
the help of person/s at NIS in Linden defrauded ‘mummy’ of her money and action must be
taken because the law will have to take its course.”
Family members of Ms. Hicks feel some staff of the NIS Linden Branch know what happened
but don’t care.
“We want action, we want the money that were cashed by someone else to be refunded and for
the person/s responsible to be held accountable because this is unfair and we are looking to see
the response,” a daughter added.
A senior official of the NIS office in Georgetown promised to provide the latest details on
the issue but up to the time of writing didn’t honour that commitment.