CEO warns of fraud against Dominican workers’ US$6.8B pension fund

Santo Domingo.- The executive president of the Dominican PensionFund Administrators Association (ADAFP) on Tuesday said various elements shouldjoin the debate over the bill to amend Social Security Law 87-01, to contributeto raise Dominican workers’ pensions when they retire.

Kirsis Jáquez stressed the need to strengthen thesupervisory capacity over collections, which have accumulated RD$314.0 billion(US$6.8 billion), to fight tax evasion and punish Social Security fraud andassess possible and flexible mechanisms and guidelines that give workers a capacityto save.

She also noted that the talks leading to an amendment of Law87-01 must also include what’s the task that lies ahead to ensure pension fundscontinue to diversify and channeled more directly towards funding theproductive and service sectors. “We feel that national savings should be potentiatedto boost our country’s competitiveness and create more jobs.”

The ADAFP CEO said the universality of the law should alsobe assessed to achieve a more equitable Social Security system to halt to theestablishing and development of “schemes of privileges.”

“That requires a system that values ?? work in allits forms,” she said,

Jáquez also stressed that evasion of social security taxesby certain employers called “victual funds” is affecting workers and distorts thesystem. “That definitely affects the system because it leads to, when systemdiagnostics on averages are done, that part of the workers that should contributeare left out.”