Single mom Vanika Williams received monthly payments from the Social Security Administration on behalf of her disabled minor son. A child who was not capable of managing these benefits on his own. Williams shared a house with her boyfriend, Asmar Earp. And for all intents and purposes, it could be a happy home where they raised their family. Until Williams went missing on December 24, 2017. What’s a boyfriend to do? Call the police? Not if you are a fraudster, like Earp. First things first. Missing people provide fraud opportunities. Earp seized control of William’s son’s disability benefits.
Not six days after Williams went missing, Earp fraudulently gained control of Williams’s son’s benefits by changing the PIN code on the debit card used to access those funds. In what could have been perceived as a gesture to care for Williams’s son, was anything but. From December 2017 through February 2020, Earp repeatedly and fraudulently took the benefits and used it on himself. Earp also fraudulently used Williams’s name, date of birth, and social security number to receive replacement debit cards to continue his scheme. Significantly impacting the benefits intended support for William’s son.
Williams’s whereabouts remain unknown. And officials have not shared whose care William’s son has been in since she went missing. He won’t be under Earps care. On July 1, 2024, Earp plead guilty to stealing almost $20,000 in Social Security Income benefits. Earp faces severe penalties for his actions, including up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and a mandatory two years for aggravated identity theft.
A shout out to special agents of the Social Security Administration with this investigation.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Man admits to stealing nearly $20K in federal benefits meant for his missing girlfriend’s disabled son” published by NBC Philadelphia on July 1, 2024.
Asmar Earp, 37, admitted to his role in embezzling federal benefits meant for the disabled child of his former girlfriend shortly after she went missing in 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Earp was in a romantic relationship with a woman identified as V.W. and shared a house with her when she started receiving monthly payments administered by the Social Security Administration for her disabled son who was a minor. V.W. was the one who received the payments since her son was determined not capable of managing the SSI benefits on his own.
