Romanian Court of Accounts finds pension fund irregularities

An audit by the Romanian Court of Accounts has identified financial irregularities within several territorial pension houses regarding both employee allowances and pension recalculations.

Regarding staff compensation, auditors found that confidentiality allowances were being paid to employees in Bacău, Giurgiu, Bistrița-Năsăud, and Botoșani despite not being provided for by current public sector salary legislation. In Giurgiu, 27 employees received amounts between 174 and 1,520 lei. The National Federation of Social Work Solidarity (FNSSM) responded to the findings, stating that these payments were granted based on specific court rulings for 33 employees and were not arbitrary decisions.

In a separate finding related to pension recalculations following Law no. 360/2023, the audit revealed errors in how annual scores were applied. Out of a 15-case sample analyzed nationwide, nine errors were confirmed, including a case in Prahova where a pensioner received 216 lei more than entitled. Similar discrepancies were noted in Arad, Buzău, Galați, Ialomița, Ilfov, Călărași, Neamț, and Bucharest. These errors, involving higher-than-due scores, have led to estimates of potential pension expenditure overvaluation of approximately 71.1 million lei.