Woman Pleads Guilty to Multiple Social Security Scams
A woman living in Allenstown has pleaded guilty to two Social Security Frauds along with two counts of Theft of Public Money. She received social security benefits for her child but did not disclose that her full time working husband was living with her. She also didn’t report the alimony she received from the husband when he moved out. Concealment of these facts made her eligible to receive assistance for her minor child. She would have been ineligible for the assistance if she had reported the facts.
The Beginning of the Major Social Security Scams
Kim Wheeler who lives in Allentown has pleaded guilty according to a press statement. She confessed in US District Court for the District of New Hampshire. She divulged that she had been doing the scam since February 2005 when she first began to get social security disability benefits for her minor child as a representative. Then since May 2010, she has been a recipient of Food Stamps and Qualified Medicare Beneficiary benefits.
The Scam
The scam was carried out by Wheeler because she failed to report that her husband, child’s father lived with them when she applied for social security disability benefits. This income would have made her application ineligible as he was in a full-time job and living in the same house, says Emily Gray Rice, who is a US Attorney.
In the second instance, Wheeler didn’t report his income when applying for Food Stamps and Qualified Medicare Beneficiary benefits. It is necessary to report the income of all the members of the household in the latter instance. Wheeler failed to do it because she knew that doing so would make her ineligible for these benefits also.
The Concealment
Wheeler also did not report that her husband lived with her to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and the Social Security Administration. When her husband moved out of the home and paid alimony as well as child support, Wheeler concealed these facts from the aforementioned agency and department, according to Rice.
The Punishment
Wheeler now faces a sentence of 10 years in prison and the judgment will come on August 1, 2016. She is currently released on several conditions and is now awaiting the trial. The case’ investigation was done by New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ Special Investigations Unit and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General. The prosecution was done by Special Assistant United States Attorney Karen Burzycki.
