A federal jury has convicted Asha Anderson, 48, of Pompano Beach, Florida, of stealing more than $152,000 in Social Security retirement benefits that kept arriving for nearly six years after her great-aunt died. The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General announced the verdict on October 20, 2026. Jurors found her guilty of theft of government funds and Social Security fraud after a six-day trial.

The case shows how a payment can keep flowing after a death when Social Security is never told. The great-aunt’s benefits were direct-deposited into a bank account, and the agency kept depositing them because it did not know she had died. Families handling a relative’s affairs can report suspected misuse of a dead person’s benefits to the inspector general through its fraud reporting page.

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What did the jury find?

According to the inspector general’s news release, the jury convicted Anderson on both counts: theft of government funds and Social Security fraud. Theft of government funds and Social Security fraud are separate federal charges, and the jury returned a guilty verdict on each. The amount at issue is more than $152,000 in retirement benefits that were intended for her deceased great-aunt.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in the release that Social Security exists to support those who are lawfully entitled to its benefits. Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Jermaine Jack of the inspector general’s Atlanta Field Division said Anderson “knowingly diverted more than $152,000 in Social Security benefits intended for her late great aunt.”

How did the withdrawals happen?

The release says the thefts ran from April 2017 through December 2022. During that time Anderson repeatedly accessed her late great-aunt’s bank account and made hundreds of cash withdrawals at ATMs, mainly in Pompano Beach and Coconut Creek.

Social Security continued to deposit the great-aunt’s benefit because it was unaware of her death, and the account stayed open for Anderson to draw from. That gap, between a death and the agency learning of it, is what the case turned on.

The span from April 2017 to December 2022 is five years and nine months, which the release summarizes as nearly six years. Spread across that time, a total of more than $152,000 works out to roughly $2,200 a month on average, taken out of one account in hundreds of separate withdrawals.

What penalties does Anderson face?

Anderson faces up to 10 years in federal prison for theft of government funds and up to 5 years for Social Security fraud. Those are the maximum terms, not the expected sentence. The release does not give a sentencing date, and it says a judge will decide the sentence using the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Who investigated and prosecuted the case?

The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, the agency’s independent oversight office, investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nikole Hiciano and General Crimes Fraud Unit Chief Germaine Corprew prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Zack handled asset forfeiture, according to the release.

Whether any of the money will be recovered has not been announced, and the release gives no forfeiture figure. Anderson has been convicted but not yet sentenced, so the penalty that matters, the one a judge imposes, is still ahead. Anyone who suspects a dead person’s benefits are being taken can report it through the inspector general’s online reporting form, the same office that investigated this case.

Handling a spouse’s Social Security after a death?

In the Anderson case, payments kept landing for nearly six years because the agency was never told of a death. For a surviving spouse, the first week after a death is when the handling of the next deposit gets decided, and a wrong move with that deposit is a hard one to undo.

The Social Security Check Protection Kit includes a first-week checklist for when a spouse dies, including not spending the payment for the month of death. The kit also carries the 2026 payment calendar, so a household can see when each deposit is due to arrive.

Get the first-week checklist for a spouse’s death in The Social Security Check Protection Kit →

More Financial Reading

• 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
• 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
• 15 Ways Retirees Are Tapping a Record $14.9 Trillion in Home Equity

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.