Posted on 06/29/2025 8:14:14 AM PDT by CFW
On Thursday, Christina Daniels, 47, of Winder, pled guilty to one count of theft of government money, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years of imprisonment.
According to court documents, between January 2023 to May 2024, Daniels, who was employed at the Social Security Administration office in Norcross, changed direct deposit information for 28 beneficiaries.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said Daniels was a customer service representative, and that’s how she was able to make changes to the beneficiaries’ direct deposit information.
Officials said Daniels stole more than $110,000.
[snip]
Officials launched an internal investigation after multiple retirement beneficiaries reported that they had not received their monthly benefit payments. Investigators Daniels had changed the direct deposit information for 28 beneficiaries, and she redirected the benefits to accounts that she opened using the stolen PII of other beneficiaries, some of whom were her family members.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsbtv.com ...
Multiple this theft by hundreds and that is why you see daily headlines that SS is "going broke".
Did she think no one would notice?
“””Did she think no one would notice?””
Yes. Theft like this is massive.
Christina almost got away with it. So close...
She should have used the social security numbers of dead SSI beneficiaries. The relatives of the dead might not have complained. They could have blamed it on DOGE.
Now that is COLD.
Gee - a first year auditor fresh out of college would be embarrassed to have this show up as something they missed on a private sector audit.
Just start dropping these offenders off in some remote location in Alaska with instructions to walk home. Putting these offenders into expensive “time out” for 10 years is ridiculous.
I don’t read it as she stole from her relatives but redirected to accounts in her relatives names.
I don't know if she could do it in her position, but this gave me the idea that when the SS got a report of the death of a deceased SS beneficiary instead of cancelling the benefit change the direct deposit account to an account that she controlled.
Unless the family of the deceased bothered to check that the SS account was closed, no one would know the difference.
When Social Security is informed of the death of a recipient, they reclaim any payments made after the death and send a letter to the estate, asking about next of kin, spouse, children. My wife died on Sunday. Her Death Certificate was filed on Tuesday, her Social Security Check was deposited on Wednesday, and reclaimed on Thursday. Her estate got a letter a few days later with forms inquiring about her survivors. I filled it out, identifying myself as her husband. The rules are the same as for the default representative in Massachusetts. I received the proceeds of her final SS check a few weeks later. In accord with her wishes expressed to me, I divided it equally among our grandchildren.
ALL ASOC SEC payments are for the prior month.
Payment I received last Wednesday is for MAY.
PAYMENT I WILL GET IN JULY IS FOR JUNE.
IF SOMEONE DIES ON LAST DAY OF THE MONTH——NO PAYMENT WILL OCCUR THE FOLLOWING MONTH.,
Yes, the payments are for the prior month, but the recipient is not alive. So SS reclaims the payment, and awards it to the spouse (if you living together) or to whomever they determine (by law) to be the survivor. Like I said, they gave it to me a few weeks later, and I, in accord with my wife’s wishes, divided it among our grandchildren.
So when a SS recipient dies, his or her last month’s payment is directed to a survivor. In the case of spouses living together, to the spouse. I thought it strange that it did not go to her estate. She had her own bank account, and we had a joint account. Her SS went into her account, which was my preference. It was her “fun money”.
Had the money gone into a joint account, it would not necessarily have been mine, or if the joint account was with a third party, theirs. There is a “by-law” formula for awarding the last payment, it does not go to the estate. The formula appears to be same as the Massachusetts formula for establishing the legal representative of the deceased if they die intestate.
This is the exact thing the Democrats lied about when the Trump admin cutoff phone access to change direct deposit information with the SS administration temporarily.
The Democrats claimed it was due to budget cuts.
No, IT WAS DUE TO DEMOCRAT THIEVES STEALING MONEY FROM SS RECIPIENTS.
Exactly. The left had a fit when DOGE suggested tightened rules for changing direct deposit information. More security means less opportunity for financial fraud.
Speaking of fraud and Atlanta, there is a lot of fraud and scams going on in that city. With so many Democrats living there the “marks” are easy to find.
“Wells Fargo Bank scheme: Man dies from heart attack 1 day after learning he won’t be getting $6,800 back”
“Paul got a phone call from a number that came up as Wells Fargo.
The caller had knowledge of his account and claimed there had been fraudulent activity.
Paul told Karen a woman came to the door, took his card, cut it up, and took it with her.
When Paul went to the bank the next day to get a new card, he was told Wells Fargo doesn’t call customers, and it was highly unlikely he would get his money back.”
You describe the usual sequence of events following death.
My supposition is that most people would not question it if they did not receive the forms from SS following the death of a loved one.
Someone a SS committing fraud may when receiving the completed forms not change the status of your loved one in the SS computer and change the routing number of the payment to their own account.
If the recipient is scheduled to receive benefits on the third Wednesday, and dies early in the month, the check will never go out. And, as you say, if the inquiry about survivors is misdirected, the survivors may not know how to go about collecting. In my case, with the benefit going out before SS were notified, I got mail, addressed to the estate, from both the bank and SS. The bank told me that SS had reclaimed the deposit, and SS, told me that, and they sent the forms.
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