George Hopkins, the former state senator who now is director of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, is in the process of stirring up more than a spot of news.

Our Insider column this week has the leading edge of what’s up. Lost amid all the hubbub about fake retirements by county elected officials aiming to claim both retirement and regular paychecks  has been a potentially larger scandal — in terms of dollars — involving members of ATRS.

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Hopkins is in the process of seeking to reclaim what he estimated could be millions in improperly paid retirement benefits. He’s already identified $111,000 in overpayment to a single former school employee now on the payroll of a state university. He’s on the trail of another overpayment at ASU that could be larger.

Hopkins is also delving into the sufficiency of employment “terminations,” such as that by which long-time Pine Bluff School superintendent Frank Anthony left his job for a month and then was rehired this month at full pay, plus retirement benefits.

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Details on the jump.

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