By ERICA WELLS, NG Managing Editor

Close to 500 cases involving National Insurance offenses went to court last year as part of the NIB's extensive crackdown on deadbeat employers, according to the NIB's latest annual report tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The majority of the 496 cases involved failure to produce records. The second most popular charge was failure to pay, followed by failure to register a business as prescribed under the National Insurance Act, the report said.

Of the employers and self-employed charged, 95 percent acknowledged their guilt and agreed to settle their arrears, while the remainder went to trial and were convicted and fined by a magistrate, according to the National Insurance Board 2007 Annual Report.

Penalties for contribution offenses range from a minimum of six months in jail or a fine of $1,000, or both, to a maximum of 12 months in jail, or a fine of $2,500, or both.

"In 2007, NIB's Audit Department continued its mandate to detect and arrest fraudulent activities within the Board's assets and revenue," said the report.

Fraud cases often related to benefits, employees, employers and vendors, with benefit fraud being the most common. Acts included falsifying physician signatures and stamps on claim forms; altering death certificates; relatives submitting maternity claims in their name instead of the person who delivered the baby, false reporting of injury on the job and check forgeries, among others, the report said.

"While matters of fraud in the Board are the responsibility of the Audit Department, in most cases, the offenses are prosecuted under the Penal Code and the cases are tried in the Magistrates' Court," noted the report.

Anyone who feels they have been treated unfairly by the Board has the opportunity to appeal the decision.

There is a process that deals with contributions and classifications of insured persons, heard by a committee of the Board of Directors.

And there is an Appeal Tribunal, where any question relating to benefit or assistance is decided. The Tribunal is made up of a lawyer, as its chairperson, one member representing the employee's interest and the other the employer's interest.

A Medical Appeals Board, made up of doctors in the medical community, also determines medical questions.

Last month, NIB officials revealed that a majority of employers and self-employed people have failed to make outstanding payments.

Officials said the board is $7 million behind projected contribution collections for the year because NIB contributions are either not paid on time or not paid at all.

NIB has imposed an amnesty period for employers to make payments.

The amnesty is in effect until December 31, 2008. That will allow thousands of delinquent employers (those who have paid late, short-paid or simply not paid) to make arrangements with NIB in order to catch up.

The NIB has vowed an extensive crackdown on deadbeat employers.

And NIB chairman Patrick Ward has promised to take a more aggressive stance on issues related to compliance on contributions.