Inspection of war veteran records reveals 90 cases of suspended benefits.

((Baonghean.vn) - The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghean province has just issued a decision to suspend regular allowances and all preferential benefits for 90 cases in the province who are believed to be fake war invalids.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dang Duong, Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, this move was made after an inspection team from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in coordination with the Ministry of National Defense, inspected 22,000 war invalid files of all types in the province. The results were then sent to the Department in batches, requesting a decision to suspend benefits.

The inter-ministerial inspection team has been working since April 2016. The 90 cases suspended are only the result of the first phase of the investigation. The team is still reviewing the remaining files, and it is expected that many more cases of fraudulent war invalid status will be uncovered. The full conclusions will be announced by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in 2017. Those war invalids deemed "fake" in this phase of the investigation will have all benefits suspended from September.

Officers from the Dien Chau District Military Command guide the process of verifying war invalid records. (Photo: Archival image)

According to the findings, the majority of these 90 wounded soldier records were previously established based on copies of wounded soldiers' records issued by the divisions. However, the inspection results indicate that the original lists of wounded soldiers still kept in the units either lack names or have names superimposed.

In the inter-ministerial inspection report, besides suspending benefits, the inspection team also demanded the recovery of all funds that had been wrongly disbursed to eligible recipients and transferred to the ministry's account. According to statistics, these 90 war invalid cases were mainly documented since 2004. Since then, they have received a total of over 16 billion VND. The amount each person received ranged from approximately 120 million VND to over 200 million VND.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Dang Duong, recovering this money is very difficult. “Most of them are elderly and frail. Their circumstances are not affluent. Where would they get such a large sum of money to repay? Meanwhile, there are currently no regulations to deal with those who fail to return the money,” Mr. Duong said.

In 2014, inspectors from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs conducted a random inspection and discovered 195 files allegedly showing fraudulent war invalid status in the province. The Ministry subsequently requested the Provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to suspend benefits and recover the entire amount of approximately 20 billion VND. However, since then, only a handful of people have returned the money, and most have only returned a small amount compared to the total amount received over many years.

According to the head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, those whose cases have been suspended can still clear their names by providing supporting documents. If they can prove their innocence, the authorities will reinstate all benefits and recover the money spent during the suspension period.

Tien Hung