Current through the 2024 Regular Session
Section 25-11-131 - Liability for unlawful receipt and retention of payment after death of member or beneficiary; falsification of records; penalty; correction of errors in payments(1) Any person or corporation who shall receive and retain any payment, after the death of a member or after the death of the beneficiary of any member, which amount is not lawfully due, shall be liable for the repayment of such amount to the retirement system plus interest thereon at ten percent (10%) per annum plus all costs of collection. Any person who shall knowingly make any false statement or shall falsify or permit to be falsified any record or records of this retirement system in any attempt to defraud such system as a result of such act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if the amount obtained or attempted to be obtained does not exceed the amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), and, on conviction thereof by any court of competent jurisdiction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or both; if such amount obtained or attempted to be obtained shall exceed the sum of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), such person or persons shall be guilty of a felony and, on conviction thereof by any court of competent jurisdiction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) or by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary not exceeding five (5) years, or both.(2) Should any change or error in the records result in any member or beneficiary receiving from the retirement system more or less than he would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct, the board of trustees shall correct such error upon detection, regardless of the length of time between the reporting error or the time payment started and the time the board became aware of the error, and, as far as practicable, adjust the payment in such a manner that the actuarial equivalent of the benefit to which such member or beneficiary was correctly entitled shall be paid. This responsibility is, and has been, the duty of the board since the creation of the retirement system.Codes, 1942, § 7446-24; Laws, 1952, ch. 299, § 24; Laws, 1983, ch. 449, § 3; Laws, 2000, ch. 628, § 9, eff. 7/1/2000.