Periodically news stories appear about the mismanagement of Social Security benefits. Because scammers have tried for years to access personal information of others, with the objective of stealing Social Security funds, it is somewhat valuable to stay on top of the more significant stories related to these topics. Here are a few recent stories related to this matter.
Man Found In Possession Of 1,100 Social Security Numbers
A Sacramento, California TV station reported that probation officers discovered that Jerry Callis, 36, was in possession of financial information for 1,100 different people, which included Social Security numbers and banking numbers. Probation officers were performing a routine compliance search on Callis after they discovered a key that led to a box containing all the information, including 22 driver’s licenses and seven Social Security cards.
After a two-month investigation, Callis was charged and pled guilty to serving three years in prison.
Man Collected $90.000 From Dead Mother’s Social Security Benefits
A Georgia man was sentenced to 21 months in prison for stealing more than $90,000 from the Social Security Administration by collecting his mother’s Social Security benefits for nearly 10 years after she died.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Monty Stansell never reported to Social Security that his mother died April 1, 2008 and ever since had been spending the benefit funds out of a joint bank account he shared with his mother. Stansell pled guilty to the charges April 25 after he admitted to investigators that he continued to use his mother’s funds for his own expenses and failed to alert Social Security of his mother’s passing.
“Those who steal Social Security benefits threaten the integrity of the program and divert vital resources away from those who need them most,” said U.S. Attorney Byung Pak, who was quoted in the story.
In addition to his prison sentence, Stansell was ordered to pay $93,872 in restitution.
