Kansas Woman Ordered to Repay $316,570 After 10-Year Social Security Fraud
Updated
Updated · KSAL · Oct 5
Kansas Woman Ordered to Repay $316,570 After 10-Year Social Security Fraud
2 articles · Updated · KSAL · Oct 5
Summary
Carolyn Phillips, 79, was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay $316,570 after admitting she illegally collected her imprisoned husband's Social Security benefits from 2015 to 2024.
In March 2015, Phillips sought to become her husband's payee but did not disclose he was in prison, instead claiming he had a mental impairment and that she was his caretaker.
Her husband was incarcerated from August 2014 to August 2024, a period during which inmates are not allowed to keep receiving Social Security retirement benefits.
Records also showed $2,437 was deposited into the husband's prison account over that decade, as the Social Security Administration's inspector general investigated the case.