CASES GO UNDER MICROSCOPE VALIDITY OF DISABILITY RETIREMENTS CHECKED.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Los Angeles County will investigate potential fraud in the cases of 35 of more than 5,800 former public safety employees who retired with disability pensions, officials said Wednesday.

The case-by-case investigation was requested by Supervisor Gloria Molina after the Daily News reported that an average of 79 percent of firefighters and 56 percent of sheriff's deputies received service-connected disability retirements in the past decade, a rate among the highest in the state.

County Risk Manager Rocky Armfield said the sample of 35 sheriff, fire, probation, district attorney and Office of Public Safety employees is large enough to determine if fraud is occurring.

``It really represents a sample of 70 cases,'' Armfield said. ``We are not only going to be looking at 35 service-connected disability retirements, but also closely looking at the corresponding workers' compensation claims associated with those disability pensions.''

Taxpayer advocates stressed that the review needs to be just the first step in the process.

``If the scope of the problem is significant - more than one or two cases of fraud in the 35 - then they should immediately review all of the cases,'' said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Officials vowed to expand the probe if fraud is detected in the cases reviewed.

``We hope to learn that all of the disability retirements have been done accurately and appropriately,'' Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Harper said. ``If we determine that something hasn't been done correctly then we are prepared to investigate it fully.''

The investigation comes amid a widening probe of public employee pensions statewide. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other elected officials have questioned the mushrooming costs to taxpayers of providing the richest pension benefits in the nation.

Under California case law, county employees can obtain disability pensions for minor degrees of disability.

Armfield released a report last week saying one of the key reasons for the rising cost is that public safety employees sometimes file several workers' compensation during their careers - especially in the year preceding retirement - to maximize their disability pensions.

The report found the system invites abuse because it allows county employees to tack on workers' compensation benefits to their overall retirement packages. Many other jurisdictions, like the city of Los Angeles, deduct such benefits from pension schemes.

``The public safety disability retirements are driving the growth of the expenses,'' Armfield said. ``Obviously, the supervisors are wise to bring this issue forward and wise to ask us to do a review.''

Armfield expects to complete the investigation by June and provide the supervisors with the initial results and recommendations.

Molina is concerned about the size of the sample review and may order it enlarged, a spokeswoman said.

``Our goal is to make sure this sample is adequate and to get the types of answers we need to really determine whether folks are abusing the system,'' spokeswoman Roxane Marquez said.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com