“Taking Social Security benefits intended for another is a theft from all of us,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman said. “Through our partnership with the Social Security Administration, the Southern District of Ohio is cracking down on this fraud as never before.”
The defendants illegally collected Social Security benefits that were paid to a deceased relative or friend in seven of the eight cases.
Dolores Stacy, 70, of Hamilton, Jesse Larry, 71, of Columbus, Curtis Joash, 73, of Cincinnati were each charged by criminal complaint for allegedly illegally collecting Social Security benefits paid to their respective mothers after their deaths. Each defendant was a co-signatory on their mother’s savings or checking account, allowing them to withdraw the Social Security money each month.
Stacy collected nearly $121,000 that were paid to her mother since she died in 2005, Larry collected $273,000 in benefits that were paid to his mother after she died in 1993 and, Joash collected nearly $188,000 since his mother’s death in 1990, according to federal prosecutors.
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