2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IV - Civil Service, Retirements and Pensions › Chapter 32 - Retirement Systems and Pensions › Section 18 - Filing of Statements and Reports; Protection Against Fraud

Section 18. (1)
Filing of Statements and Penalties for Failure to File.
— Any employee or member upon request from the board shall file with it such written statement or certified record or copy thereof as shall be required by the provisions of sections one to twenty-eight, inclusive, or by rules and regulations of the board consistent with law. If the board is satisfied that there has been unreasonable delay in the filing of any such required statement or record, it shall so notify in writing such employee or member and the head of his department. If within thirty days thereafter the board has not received such required statement or record, it shall so notify in writing the head of such department and the treasurer of the governmental unit in which such employee or member is employed. Upon the receipt of such latter notice by the head of his department, such employee or member shall be suspended from service without compensation and such suspension shall remain in force until such required statement or record is so filed; provided, that in the case of any employee or member subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one, the pertinent provisions of sections forty-one to forty-five, inclusive, thereof shall apply. Any member attaining the maximum age for his group during a period of suspension as above set forth shall be retired for superannuation but shall receive no retirement allowance until he has complied with the request of the board. No member shall be entitled to voluntary retirement or to a return of his accumulated total deductions during the period of any such suspension.
(1A)
Filing of Reports and Penalties for Failure to File.
— The treasurer or other disbursing officer in charge of payroll in any governmental unit or agency to which a system pertains, upon request from the board or the commission shall submit such written information as shall be required by the provisions of section one to twenty-eight, inclusive, or by rules and regulations of the board or the commission consistent with the law. If the board or the commission determines that there has been unreasonable delay in filing of any such required information, the board or the commission shall so notify in writing such treasurer or other disbursing officer. If within thirty days thereafter, the board or the commission has not received such required information, it shall so notify the treasurer or other disbursing officer and the chief executive officer for the governmental unit. The board or the commission may petition the superior court to compel compliance with this section and enforce the penalty thereunder.
(2)
Protection against Fraud.
— Every certified statement required by sections one to twenty-eight inclusive, or by rules and regulations of the board consistent with law, shall contain such information as the board may reasonably require and shall be verified by written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury. Any person who shall knowingly make any false statement or shall falsify or permit to be falsified any record or records of the system, with intent to defraud such system as a result of such act, shall, in addition to all other penalties to which he may be subject by law, be punished as provided for in section twenty-four. If any error in the records of such system caused by any such wrongful act results in the receipt from such system by any member or beneficiary of more or less than he would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct, payments shall, as far as practicable, be adjusted in such manner that the actuarial equivalent of the benefit to which he was correctly entitled shall be paid.