Washington woman indicted in Social Security fraud case
Federal prosecutors are accusing a Washington woman of falsely claiming in a Social Security document that a beneficiary was residing in her home.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment Tuesday charging Crystal Bell, 42, with theft of government property and supplemental security income fraud. The office of Scott Brady, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said the indictment claims Bell acted as a representative payee of a Social Security beneficiary and “converted” $15,031 that was deposited into that person’s bank account between Jan. 31 and Nov. 30, 2014.
Federal prosecutors also allege she falsified the document, which said the beneficiary was living at Bell’s home, even though that person wasn’t living there at the time and wasn’t entitled to receive benefits.