The Social Security Fund of Panama (CSS) filed a criminal complaint with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, January 12. The complaint alleges a multi-million dollar fraud scheme involving at least 52 irregularly granted pensions, with an estimated financial impact of ten million dollars.
CSS Director General Dino Mon stated the legal action followed extensive internal audits and reviews conducted with support from the Comptroller General of the Republic (Panama). The case centers on deliberate alterations to contribution records within the pension payment system, indicating organized criminal activity rather than administrative errors.
“We will not tolerate mafias or corruption networks that attack the funds of the insured. Every balboa that is illegally diverted is a direct blow to the system’s sustainability and the trust of Panamanians,” said CSS head Dino Mon. [Translated from Spanish]
The Fund has immediately suspended payments for the 52 flagged pensions. Officials identified between three and four million dollars have already been improperly disbursed, with a total potential loss nearing ten million.
Systematic Pattern of Altered Records
Director Mon explained the fraud detection resulted from enhanced internal controls. Auditors found consistent, irregular patterns specifically within the pension payment framework. The scheme allegedly manipulated worker-employer quota records to simulate minimum requirements or inflate pension amounts.
“We have done audits, the administrative part and the Comptroller General of the Republic in this entire pension payment scheme and we found evidence of a consistent manner of an irregular process that in some way, in some form, showed an alteration of the quota records in everything that was the pension payment system of the Social Security Fund,” Mon detailed. [Translated from Spanish]
Anomalies included using contributions from deceased individuals, maintaining records for already pensioned individuals who continued working, and falsifying data to create illegitimate pension rights. Mon suggested the maneuvers required collusion between institution officials and third parties.
Ongoing Investigation and Broader Impact
No dismissals have occurred yet, as the Public Ministry must first determine criminal liabilities. The CSS has formally requested forensic computer audits and investigations into both current and former officials, as well as third-party beneficiaries. They also seek urgent measures to secure digital and documentary evidence.
The implicated cases represent just the beginning, according to Mon. He expects the number to grow as verification systems continue scanning transactions. The Fund is now implementing stricter validation processes for all monetary inflows and outflows. This scandal directly threatens the financial sustainability of the national pension system, eroding public trust in a critical social institution.
“These 52 cases are only the start. It will grow to the extent that we also have the systems to continue doing everything we have done so far,” Mon stated. [Translated from Spanish]
Charges could include crimes against the economic order, computer security, and peculation (embezzlement), along with corruption of public servants and document forgery. The Social Security Fund (Panama) manages health services and pensions for millions of Panamanians, making this alleged internal fraud a severe breach of fiduciary duty. The institution has recently focused on staffing improvements, including efforts to find more medical social security specialists for provincial areas.
This complaint signals a more aggressive stance by the current CSS administration against long-rumored internal corruption. Previous administrations had reviewed similar irregularities but failed to produce conclusive results or legal action. The case now rests with anti-corruption prosecutors, whose findings could lead to one of the largest public sector fraud trials in recent years.