PocketLaw | Georgia Code | Attempts to Defraud the Retirement System

Attempts to Defraud the Retirement System by Means of False Statements or Falsified Records; Adjustment of Erroneous Payments

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Any person who knowingly makes any false statements or falsifies or permits to be falsified any records of the system in any attempt to defraud the system, as a result of such an act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00, imprisonment not to exceed 12 months, or both.
If any change or error in the records results in any member or beneficiary receiving from the system more or less than he would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct, the board shall have the power to correct such error and to adjust the payments as far as practicable in such a manner that the actuarial equivalent of the benefit to which such member or beneficiary was correctly entitled shall be paid.

(Ga. L. 1967, p. 259, § 19.)

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, § 369.

C.J.S.

- 67 C.J.S., Officers and Public Employees, § 257. 70 C.J.S., Pensions, § 23.

CHAPTER 7 GEORGIA FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND Article 1 General Provisions.

47-7-1. Definitions.
47-7-2. Purpose of fund; legislative intent.

Article 2 Administration and Management of the Assets of the Fund.

47-7-20. Membership of the board; manner of election; compensation and expenses.
47-7-21. Creation of the office of executive director of the board; appointment of the executive director; compensation; bond.
47-7-22. Legal adviser to the board.
47-7-23. Powers and duties of the board generally.
47-7-24. Power of the board to accept and use any gift, grant, or bequest.
47-7-25. Annual audit of the fund.
47-7-26. Power of board to determine eligibility for membership or retirement of any volunteer firefighter unable to attend the prescribed number of drills, meetings, and fires.
47-7-27. Power of board to grant retirement benefit increases.

Article 3 Membership in the Fund.

47-7-40. Eligibility to apply for membership; transfer of Georgia Class Nine Fire Department Pension Fund.
47-7-41. Effect of withdrawal of contributions or termination of employment; inactive membership; eligibility for reinstatement; credit for time spent on leave of absence and resumption of payments to fund upon reinstatement as active member.
47-7-42. Application for membership by firemen and volunteer firemen previously not members [Repealed].
47-7-43. Employees of the fund.

Article 4 Financing the Fund.

47-7-60. Dues required of active members; effect of failure to pay dues in timely manner; suspended membership.
47-7-61. Tax on premiums charged by fire insurance companies for certain classes of coverage; exclusions; penalty for failure to report and pay such tax.

Article 5 Service Creditable Toward Retirement. Article 6

47-7-80. Transfer of service credits from one fire department to another.
47-7-81. Effect of failure of volunteer fire department to hold required drills; effect of volunteer firefighter's failure to meet attendance requirements.
47-7-82. Fire department employees other than firefighters or volunteer firefighters.
47-7-83. Service credit of member who is also member of Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund.
47-7-84. Credit for prior eligible service by persons who are members as of September 1, 1992, or who applied for membership on or before that date.
47-7-85. Credit for prior eligible service by persons who are members as of July 1, 1998, or become members after that date.
47-7-86. Creditable service for other pension fund participation for members of Georgia Class Nine Fire Department Pension Fund [Repealed].
47-7-87. Credit for prior eligible service; requirements.
47-7-88. Impact of active duty military service upon receipt of creditable service time.
47-7-89. Calculating creditable service time.
47-7-90. Impact of sentence of confinement on accrual of creditable service.

Retirement, Retirement Allowances, Disability Benefits, and Death Benefits. Article 7

47-7-100. Eligibility for full pension benefits; eligibility for partial benefits; optional pension benefits; vesting of rights to pension benefits; early retirement provisions.
47-7-101. Eligibility for retirement benefits; withdrawal of application for benefits before approval; reemployment.
47-7-102. Eligibility for disability benefits; notice of injury; application for benefits; periodic medical examinations; termination of benefits; action contesting determination of board.
47-7-103. Benefits payable upon death; failure to designate beneficiary.
47-7-104. Benefits payable to volunteer firefighters erroneously found to be eligible for such benefits.
47-7-105. Refund of contributions upon withdrawal from the fund.

Miscellaneous Provisions. Cross references. - Authorization of taxation for paying pensions and other benefits and costs under a firemen's pension system or systems, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. X, Para. IV.

47-7-120. Reduction of benefits upon determination that available moneys are insufficient; liability of members of the board for such reductions.
47-7-121. Vesting of rights to benefits.
47-7-122. Exemption of benefits under this chapter from garnishment, attachment, or other process; exemption from taxation; assignment of such benefits.
47-7-123. Exemption of assets of the board from taxation.
47-7-124. Disposition of funds abandoned by members separated from the service; notice; limitation on asserting certain claims; venue.
47-7-125. Availability of records of local departments to board; confidentiality.
47-7-126. Penalty for false statements or falsified records; correction of errors by the board.
47-7-127. "Alternative investments" defined; code of ethics.

Administrative Rules and Regulations.

- Rules of General Applicability, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Fireman's Pension Fund, Chapter 513-7-1.

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

County firefighters may belong to both county and state system.

- County firefighters are not prohibited from simultaneously belonging to both the county retirement system and the Georgia Firemen's Pension Fund. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U75-77.

Full-time firefighter's membership not lost if utilized as police officer.

- A firefighter employed full time and in accordance with Ga. L. 1961, p. 417, § 1 (see O.C.G.A. § 47-7-1) would not lose the firefighter's right to membership in the fund if the employing city utilized the firefighter as a police officer. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U71-15.

Fund is not state agency or board within purview of the Georgia administrative procedure provisions. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U74-72.

Refund of dues returns member to new member status.

- If a firefighter who requested and received a refund of dues paid into the fund fails to apply for reinstatement within six months, the firefighter may be entitled to membership, but the firefighter's status is that of a new member; the firefighter must forfeit the firefighter's credit for previous years' service. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-317.

Majority of members of board of trustees must agree on any action to be taken before that action is binding. 1972 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 72-103.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Statute of limitations in respect of action or proceeding to establish right to, or recovery of benefits of, pension, 136 A.L.R. 809.

Reasonableness of classification, as regards beneficiaries, by statute providing for retirement fund or pension for public officers or employees, 163 A.L.R. 870.

What constitutes "salary," "wages," "pay," or the like, within pension law basing benefits thereon, 14 A.L.R.2d 634.

Gift to or for employees' pension fund as valid charitable gift or trust, 28 A.L.R.2d 428.

Unemployment compensation: eligibility of employee laid off according to employer's mandatory retirement plan, 50 A.L.R.3d 880.

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

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