An American girl residing in Tijuana was sentenced in federal court docket Monday to a yr and a day in jail after she was convicted of taking greater than $268,000 in retirement advantages meant for her lifeless mom.
Kimberly Kay Brandt, a 51-year-old United States citizen residing in Mexico, hid her mom’s demise from the Social Safety Administration for 13 years, in keeping with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace.
Prosecutors say Brandt’s mom moved from her residence in California to stay with Brandt in Tijuana when her well being started to say no.
Brandt’s mom died in Mexico in June 2010, however as a substitute of notifying the Social Safety Administration at the moment, Brandt impersonated her mom in a name to her mom’s financial institution with a purpose to request a brand new card and replace her handle.
Prosecutors stated that Brandt additionally pretended to be her mom on a separate, later event, when she referred to as the financial institution to ask about lacking funds after the SSA realized of her mom’s demise and halted them. She was arrested three weeks after the advantages ceased in late June 2023, as she tried to cross into the U.S. from Mexico.
Brandt pleaded responsible to social safety fraud lower than two months later. She was additionally ordered to pay $268,143 in restitution to the Social Safety Administration.
