Donald Felix Zampach, a Californian, faces 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering and social security fraud in federal court this week, reveals BFM TV.
In total, he received more than 830,000 dollars in public funds (the equivalent of 760,000 euros), explained Randy Grossman, the attorney general for the Southern District of California, in a statement (in English) published a week ago.
“An elaborate fraud that spans three decades”
“Defendant did not just passively cash checks sent to his deceased mother. This is an elaborate fraud that spans more than three decades and required aggressive actions and deception to maintain the ruse,” he mentioned.
“He filed false tax returns, posed as his mother and signed her name on numerous documents, and when investigators caught up with him, he continued to claim she was still alive.”
Randy Grossman (Attorney General for the Southern District of California)
The scam started in 1990, when Donald Felix Zampach’s mother died in Japan. Prior to his disappearance, the now 65-year-old took ownership of the family home in Poway and filed for bankruptcy without reporting either that possession or the government benefits his mother was receiving.
After his mother’s death, he kept her bank accounts and forged her signature on certificates of eligibility. The goal? Continue to collect her widow’s pension from the Social Security Administration and an annuity from the Financial Accounting Service of the US Department of Defense.
As part of the plea deal, the man reportedly agreed to pay back $830,000 and have his home confiscated as restitution. He was released on bail pending a sentencing hearing on September 20.
Fugitive found near Angers: the man will be presented to a judge to be imprisoned
2023-07-04 19:25:00
#facts #United #States #hides #death #mother #years #continue #receive #allowances
