Woman collected $88,000 of her dead parents’ benefits for years in Alabama, feds say

An Alabama woman continued to collect federal benefits for her parents long after they died, a U.S. federal indictment alleges.

The woman, an assistant in the Alabama state legislature, was indicted by a grand jury in Birmingham on two counts of theft of public money, one count of theft from an employee benefit plan and two counts of aggravated identity theft, according to the indictment unsealed on June 29.

The woman’s father was a member of the United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan, according to the indictment, that provided retirement benefits to previous mine workers to compensate for black lung, a condition common among mine retirees.

Her father received the benefits, $175 per month, until his death in 1980, the indictment said.

When her father died, the benefits were given to his surviving dependent, the woman’s mother, for the same amount each month, according to the indictment.

On Sept. 13, 2017, the woman’s mother also died, which would normally be the end of the benefits.

However, the indictment says, the woman didn’t notify the Social Security Administration, the Department of Labor Workers Compensation Program or the United Mine Workers Pension Plan that her mother had died.

Instead, the woman continued to receive federal benefits each month, the indictment says.

The woman was listed as a “representative payee” on her mother’s Wells Fargo account, so she endorsed the benefit checks with her mother’s signature and then deposited them into the account, the indictment said.

Between her mother’s death in 2017 and April 2022, the woman deposited checks totaling $87,767.10, according to the indictment.

The woman was indicted on five counts on May 24, according to court documents.

Information regarding the woman’s legal representation wasn’t listed in court records as of June 30.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking a forfeiture of the woman’s assets to recoup the money, the indictment says.

The charges included in the indictment are punishable by fines, with up to a decade of federal prison time for each charge of theft of public money, AL.com reported.

The woman is a resident of Birmingham.

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