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Feds Charge 8 In Ohio With Stealing Retirement Benefits


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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The government has accused eight people in Ohio of stealing Social Security and other retirement benefits totaling nearly $800,000.

Federal prosecutors say that in seven cases, Social Security benefits that were paid to deceased individuals were illegally collected.

Three of those are accused of collecting benefits paid to their mothers after they died, including one man who prosecutors say collected $273,000 paid to his mother after her 1993 death.

Prosecutors say in an eighth case the identity of a 65-year-old man who is still alive was stolen and used to collect the man’s benefits.

Ohio’s two U.S. Attorneys, Benjamin Glassman in Columbus and Justin Herdman in Cleveland, announced the charges Thursday.

The prosecutions are part of a national Social Security fraud project.