The Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division on Tuesday announced criminal charges against 17 defendants allegedly responsible for more than $1.34 million in stolen Social Security Administration benefits. The charges followed a criminal enforcement surge conducted between Aug. 21 and Sept. 18 with U.S. Attorneys in 11 districts and the SSA Office of Inspector General.

Fraud Allegation Cases

In one case, Eva Bratcher of the Northern District of Illinois allegedly concealed her mother's body in a deep freezer in her garage for two years while assuming her mother's identity to collect roughly $21,402 in Social Security and SNAP benefits. Bratcher also allegedly used an alternate Social Security number to steal additional SNAP benefits. She faces charges of theft of government property and Social Security fraud, carrying maximum penalties of 10 and five years in prison, respectively.

“Every dollar stolen is a dollar taken from a retiree's medicine, meals, or housing,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division.

Other cases in the surge included a New York man accused of withdrawing $109,746 from his deceased brother's account and a Michigan woman accused of stealing nearly $122,000 from her disabled uncle over seven years while he lived without running water, electricity, or heat.

Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano said the agency is “aggressively pursuing fraud, safeguarding taxpayer dollars, and protecting Social Security,” working alongside the DOJ under what he described as a mandate from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Part Of a Broader Crackdown

The Fraud Division, created April 7, supports the White House's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vance. During a White House roundtable with state attorneys general earlier this year, Vance said officials had referred more than $22 billion in allegedly fraudulent small business loans to the Treasury for collection, deferred over $1.3 billion in suspected Medicaid reimbursements, and identified $6.3 billion in potentially fraudulent government contracts, along with blocking $60 million in student aid fraud.

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