On October 23, 2022, the police were called in for what started as an investigation into a suspicious death – a relief for most that the death was declared natural – except for his caretakers Lynn and Kirk Ritter, because the police had determined that the man died in their house in 2016. And now the Social Security Administration (SSA) became involved because this deceased man’s Social Security checks were still being collected.
Social Security benefits stop once SSA receives notification of a death. SSA typically learns about a person’s death when a funeral director reports it to them. If not the funeral director, then it is the responsibility of the next of kin. The Ritters lived with Lynn’s father in a single-family house in Overland Park with Lynn acting as his caretaker. But on or about July 1, 2016, when it was determined that Lynn’s father passed away, Lynn and Kirk Ritter did not contact a funeral home, nor report the death themselves. Instead, while the father’s body mummified in the house, the couple wrote checks on the deceased’s account and transferred funds into their bank accounts to use for their own personal benefit. The Ritters stole $68,637 in pension payments and $147,429 in Social Security payments for over six years until the police were contacted.
On January 28, 2025, Lynn Ritter was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. Kirk Ritter was sentenced to seven months in prison. The Ritters paid back the fraudulently gained Social Security funds during their prosecution.
Excellent job by the Social Security Administration in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Couple sentenced to prison for fraud, theft after mummified body found in Overland Park home” published by KMBC News on January 28, 2025.
An Overland Park, Kansas, couple will see prison time after pleading guilty to fraud and theft in a scheme reported after a mummified body was found in their home. Lynn Ritter, 62, and Kirk Ritter, 62, both of Overland Park, were sentenced to federal prison after the body of Lynn’s father was found inside the home six years after his death.
The body was discovered inside a home near 99th Terrace and Quivira in October 2022. Police said the incident was initially investigated as a suspicious death, however, the Social Security Administration became involved after it was determined the man died of natural causes in 2016. Meanwhile, his monthly Social Security checks were still being collected.
