Noteboom The Law Firm

SSA Receives Money Back After Fraud

When people are accidentally overpaid by the Social Security Administration, it is often nearly impossible for the agency to recoup the funds. However, when it is illegally gained in the first place, the SSA often has better luck recovering the cash. One of the latest cases of fraud is a good example of this.

A 66-year-old man from Billings, Montana, has defrauded the system twice now. Fortunately, he recently paid back $16,179 of the amount, according to The Billings Gazette. He will also perform 80 hours of community service, and be sentenced to two years of probation. 

This is the second time the man has defrauded the SSA. In the first case, he did not report the accurate amount of income he had, and he also lied about his employment status. Though he was working at the time, he got over $120,000 in benefits from the years 1994 to 1998. When the fraud was discovered, he was ordered to pay back $60,000 of the misappropriated funds, and was on probation for three years.

Clearly, that punishment taught him little, because in 2005, he began working for his friend's business. That friend agreed to pay the man some wages using his Social Security number, and some using his wife's instead. This made it possible for him to claim that he made much less than he actually did for two years.

Though he now receives regular fulltime benefits from the SSA, he was receiving disability benefits for a vision problem at the time of the fraud. He now has no restrictions on how much he can work while still getting his checks from the SSA.

Unfortunately, people who already receive benefits find it much easier to defraud the system than do people who have never received money from the SSA. This man was able to do it twice for a few years each time before being caught.

One would think the SSA would catch onto to such cases earlier, but just like with cases of overpayment, the agency is severely understaffed and overworked. If you have recently submitted an application for benefits and have been waiting a while, you likely know firsthand how many backups the lack of employees causes.  Hiring an attorney to represent your interests and follow up with the SSA on your behalf can help expedite the disability claims process.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida disability lawyers, LaVan & Neidenberg, represent over 5000 disability claimants. Our disability attorneys have experience with cross examining agency-appointed medical and vocational experts and take time when speaking with you about your disability claim. Call us today at 1-888-234-5758 for a FREE legal consultation. There is NO OBLIGATION to hire our firm and there are NO FEES unless one of our trained disability lawyers wins your case.