Her mom died in 2016, but she kept collecting her retirement benefits, feds say

A woman began collecting retirement benefits meant for her mother one month after she died in May 2016, federal prosecutors said.

By January 2020, she had stolen at least $50,210 in Social Security Administration Retirement Insurance Benefits paid to her mother, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

These monthly benefits replace a portion of a person’s income after they retire or work fewer hours than before.

The woman, 65, of Lynn, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public funds on May 31, prosecutors announced in a June 2 news release. This comes after her indictment in January 2022 in connection with stealing benefits from June 2016 through January 2020, officials said.

McClatchy News contacted a public defender representing her for comment on June 5 and didn’t receive an immediate response. Although prosecutors have publicly identified the woman, McClatchy News isn’t naming her because she’s not accused of a crime causing direct physical harm to others.

The woman is accused of writing checks to herself from her mother’s bank account and forging her signature, according to prosecutors.

Theft of public funds, a misdemeanor charge, could result in a sentence of up to one year in prison, a year of supervised release, five years of probation and a fine of $100,000 — or “twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater” — prosecutors said.

According to the woman’s plea agreement, she’s agreed to a sentence of five years of probation, a fine and paying $50,210 in restitution.

Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 29, court records as of June 5 show.

Lynn is about 10 miles northeast of Boston.

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