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Puerto Rico Senate panel probes up to $84 million in Department of Education payroll overpayments
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Summary
The Senate Commission on Education, Tourism and Culture questioned Treasury and Education officials about alleged payroll overpayments dating to 2007, disputed total-loss estimates, described a new time-and-attendance validation process and requested detailed lists and supporting files within five days.
Sen. Ada García Montes, chair of the Senate Commission on Education, Tourism and Culture, opened a July 14 hearing to investigate alleged improper payroll payments by the Department of Education spanning 2007 to the present, citing a Financial Oversight and Management Board figure that ‘‘the Department of Education paid about eighty‑four point two million dollars in incorrect compensation’’ to thousands of current, former and retired employees.
The commission heard two panels: representatives from the Department of Treasury (Hacienda) and from the Department of Education. Treasury lawyers and technology managers described their role as a validator of payroll files rather than the certifier of individual employment records, and said a new interagency ‘‘time and attendance’’ project provides an extra Treasury‑side validation that compares a payroll file (including records processed via the Cronos system) against an active roster supplied by Education.
"No, el departamento de Hacienda no es responsable de eso," said José Chávez (Department of Treasury), rejecting the idea that Treasury controlled the underlying certification of whether an employee was still active. Hacienda explained it receives digital payroll files from agencies, runs additional matches and raises flags when an employee in a payment file does not match Education's active roster.
Education officials acknowledged long‑running manual procedures and gaps in integration. Wilfredo Falcón Negrón, director of the Office of Time, Attendance and Leave at the Department of Education, said the agency implemented an interagency integration beginning in February 2021 and moved the project into production corrective mode to reduce errors. He told the commission that during the first months of enforcement nearly $9,930,597.87 was not disbursed across several pay periods as the system flagged missing presence validations.
Education also described administrative safeguards for employees: a digital D‑14 form lets workers request retroactive adjustments for up to three quincenas (pay periods) while supervisors review requests; Education said it will shorten that grace period to two quincenas starting in August to tighten controls.
Officials disputed the total dollar estimate. Hacienda said it does not have an exact figure and that public estimates (about $80–84 million) have circulated in the press. Education's finance office told the commission it currently estimates roughly $71 million in improper payments; Education also said it has recovered about $3.6 million to date and will provide a detailed accounting to the commission within five days.
On liability and recovery, Treasury counsel told senators that the Department of Justice is the authority that would decide whether to initiate legal recoupment actions and that Education must provide itemized lists and amounts to justify any demand for repayment. "Nuestro tribunal supremo ha dicho... el Estado tiene derecho a recobrarla," said Hacienda counsel when explaining the legal basis for potential recovery while also urging a policy weighing of risks and benefits.
Senators pressed for clarity on the certification chain. Sen. Ramón Ruiz described the sequence of certification — school principal, regional office, payroll division, then Treasury — and asked which specific officials or offices failed to perform required checks that would have prevented the payments. Several lawmakers expressed concern for retired or deceased employees who may be unable to repay sums and urged negotiated settlements or careful discretion in pursuing recoveries.
Education said it has set up a support center called Catal to assist employees with questions and to handle incoming complaints and adjustments. The department also said it will share weekly recobro (recovery) reports with the Oversight Board and that its finance division will lead the recoupment process in coordination with Treasury and Justice.
The commission closed by requesting the documents it had asked for — including itemized lists of identified overpayments, a breakdown of amounts recovered to date, and any regional or demographic profiling of affected employees — to be submitted within five days. The panel adjourned at about 1:18 p.m.
The committee did not take any formal votes during the hearing; it set the next procedural step as receipt and review of the requested documentation.
