Reuters
Apr 19 2002 8:03AM
LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - In Peru, even the dead get paid.
Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi said on Thursday a group of Peruvian police officers had been arrested after authorities discovered they were cashing the paychecks of 415 of their dead colleagues.
The police, ranging in rank up to colonel, cashed a total of $1.4 million meant for colleagues whose deaths had never been reported by their superiors.
"These police falsified the (identity cards) of the dead personnel and then made it appear as if they were alive," Rospigliosi said.
Police officers in Peru earn a paltry sum, averaging less than $200 a month.
Peruvian police general Remigio Hernani said that as a result of the investigation started in 2001, the police officers accused, whose number was not specified, had been thrown in jail.
