The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a database called the Death Master File that includes the names and Social Security numbers of people who the SSA believes have died. Once a person’s information is in the Death Master File, they are no longer eligible for Social Security or disability benefits. You can’t take the money, and the benefits with you. There is no U-Haul on the hearse, they say. But SSA won’t know there is a change unless someone notifies them. The funeral director should report the death to the SSA. But if not, it falls on the next of kin. And not all kin follow through.
On July 12, 2024, Deleria Huff pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in Social Security payments that were sent to her deceased mother. The three-decade theft occurred as Huff continued to receive payments meant for her mother, Pauline Huff. With the Social Security Administration unaware of the elder Huff’s death, Huff pocketed $337,642 in government money and a $1,200 stimulus payment intended for her deceased mother from 1991 to 2020. Huff’s crime came to light after a Medicare non-utilization audit indicated her mother may have died. Funny how the Department of Health and Human Services notices something isn’t right. But how could SSA even know to question, when Huff told an SSA representative in 2020 that her mother was still living with her but couldn’t speak because of her dementia.
Facing almost five years in prison, on July 12, 2024, Duff received a much lighter sentence of eighteen months of home confinement. Assistant Federal Defender Colin Fitzpatrick argued that Huff was needed in the community to tend to the spiritual needs of others. “Mrs. Huff began ministering, filling not just bellies but hearts too,” he wrote. “In the beginning, her ‘church’ was a picnic table under an old oak tree in the yard. Eventually, she got the unit next door cleaned up and set up as a space to have services and meetings.” All funded it appears by stolen Social Security benefits.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Federal judge orders home confinement for Mobile woman who admitted Social Security fraud” published by WALA News on July 12, 2024.
A judge on Friday sentenced a woman to 18 months of home confinement for stealing almost $338,000 in Social Security money. Deleria Huff, of Mobile, pleaded guilty in March to theft of government money. She admitted that she kept money that arrived each month after her mother died in 1991.
Despite the eyebrow-raising amount, Huff’s lawyer argued that his client never lived a lavish lifestyle and has agreed to pay back the money.
