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Gov. Chris Christie today announced the creation of a new unit within the state Treasury Department to investigate and uncover pension and disability benefit fraud and abuse.

(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today signed an executive order creating a new investigative unit to uncover pension and disability benefits fraud perpetrated by public employees across the state.

The governor's office said in a statement the unit will be housed within the state Treasury Department and will be headed by Jim Scott, a former criminal investigator for the Internal Revenue Service who currently works in the state Attorney General's Office.

“Siphoning of pension and disability benefits by fraud or ineligibility hurts everyone, including honest current and future pensioners and, above all, New Jersey taxpayers who support the system and expect it to be fair and free of fraud," Christie said in a statement.

The governor's office said the new unit will work with the Attorney General's Office and state Comptroller Matthew Boxer to undertake investigations of pension and disability fraud and ineligibility, develop new ways to curb wrongdoing and refer cases for civil or criminal prosecution.

The unit will also solicit tips from the public about pension fraud and abuse.

The Comptroller's Office has in the past year raised several concerns about pension abuse. An audit released in May found the state pension program had paid more than $350,000 to inmates convicted of offenses that should have disqualified them.

In July of last year, the office found 202 attorneys, engineers and other professionals who work part-time for some of New Jersey's towns and school districts were illegally accruing time toward lucrative pensions and should be removed from the rolls.

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