Data exposé uncovers tourism stipend fraud

(CNS): An embarrassing error for the Ministry of Labour last month, when around 3,000 names and email addresses of tourism stipend recipients were accidentally made public by staff at the ministry for border control, exposed a number of fraudulent claims, Labour Minister Chris Saunders has said. The data breach will lead to several people being prosecuted after “widespread and disturbing allegations of fraud” raised major concerns, he added.

“While I was very unhappy with the clerical error that led to the inadvertent data breach, since then we have had several reports of allegations of fraud made against recipients of the stipend, which is a matter of serious concern,” Saunders said and revealed that some fraudulent claimants had been exposed by their own family members.

“While I am sure that the vast number of recipients truly require assistance, unfortunately, there are members of our society that are hellbent on getting money for doing nothing. That mindset is un-Caymanian. The fact that some of the people who reported suspected fraud offences are family members confirms that we still live in a society where people value decency and honesty,” the minister said.

“Individuals that seek to defraud the government are essentially stealing public funds which could be put to better use assisting those who are truly vulnerable and in need of help,” Saunders added. He said that his ministerial team had worked hard to identify cases of suspected fraud, which have now been referred to the RCIPS Financial Crimes Investigation Unit with the intention of prosecution.

From the get-go, the payments had been based on an honour system and few checks were made. The criteria required that applicants provide sworn declarations regarding their employment and financial status.

A self-reporting survey was conducted by the Ministry of Labour in January of this year after it took over responsibility for the disbursement of the stipend payments from the tourism ministry. That survey relied on recipients’ honesty in listing their updated employment status, with a goal of removing those who had gained full-time employment since the gradual reopening of the tourism industry.

In that survey, over 600 people said they were back in full-time employment and were moved to a reduced payment schedule and transitioned off the the stipend. But the majority of recipients remained on the list at full payment. Saunders said that since then, some people had also come forward and returned payments they received in error or after they went back to work. 

“We are grateful to those who chose to be honest and who have been keen on doing their part to ensure that monies were prioritized for those still in need,” the minister added, but said that not everyone was so honest.

“We also discovered that there were four persons incarcerated at HMPS Northward that were being paid the stipend, at least one of whom was already in prison when the stipend was instituted,” he said. “One has since been released, but the others are currently in prison and were receiving monthly payments up to March 2022.”  

Saunders pointed out that the payments were an emergency measure introduced during the lockdown by the former administration. He said he supported the decision to provide much-needed assistance to thousands of families that were financially impacted by the global pandemic overnight.

“This was the right thing to do then, it is the right thing to do now, and we shouldn’t let those who seek to exploit the scheme for financial gain detract from the goodness of this programme, as a lot of our people still require assistance. Many of our people did the right thing by reporting cases of suspected fraud, and their courage and decency now requires us to act. We cannot afford to sweep this under the rug,” he said.

Funds for the tourism stipend programme have been approved until June but anyone who is still receiving the money who no longer meets the criteria for a legitimate claim is urged to voluntarily remove themselves from the recipient list. Another mandatory survey has now been launched for all recipients of the stipend, which they must complete in order to get paid next month.

For further information, or to report suspicions of fraudulent activities relating to the payment of the stipend, email stipend@gov.ky or call 649-6932.