Donald Felix Zampach of San Diego, California, entered a guilty plea to concealing the passing of his mother for more than three decades while he was receiving her social security and pension benefits.
The operation is thought to be the longest-running and biggest fraud of its kind in the district, according to the US attorney.
Zampach: 30-year social security fraud
Over the course of three decades, Zampach, who is from Poway, roughly 20 miles north of San Diego, amassed over $830,000 in public cash and about $30,000 in credit cards that were opened unlawfully, according to US attorney Randy Grossman.
Zampach’s guilty deal claims that the scam started in 1990, the year his mother passed away in Japan. Federal prosecutors claimed in a press release that shortly before her death, Zampach transferred ownership of his mother’s home in southern California to himself and filed on her behalf for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which unlike the more well-known Chapter 11 bankruptcy does not call for a repayment plan.
Zampach continued to use his mother’s bank accounts for many years after her passing, forging her signature and filing false tax returns. The one thing he never did was inform social security of his mother’s passing so they could stop making payments.
“This defendant didn’t just passively collect checks mailed to his deceased mother. This was an elaborate fraud spanning more than three decades that required aggressive action and deceit to maintain the ruse,” Grossman said in a statement.
Zampach insisted his mother was still alive even after detectives discovered his plot, according to Grossman.
On account of the Social Security fraud, Zampach might receive an extra five years in prison and a further $250,000 fine.
Inspector General for SSA Gail S. Ennis stated that the agency will keep looking for and prosecuting those who defraud SSA and hold them accountable.
Zampach is currently free on bail and will receive a sentence on September 20. He must forfeit his Poway house as part of his plea agreement and use the proceeds to pay the $830,000 restitution demand.
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