Social Security employee steals $1.8 million in funds by filing fake claims, feds say

Aspen Pflughoeft
·2 min read
27

A former employee for the Social Security Administration is accused of abusing her position to steal $1.8 million in benefits over a 12-year span. She’s facing federal charges in Puerto Rico.

Myrna Faria worked for the Social Security Administration in San Juan for 28 years as a “‘social insurance specialist’ and ‘claims specialist’” before retiring in 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico said in a March 14 news release.

Faria began using her position to steal funds from the Social Security Administration in March 2012, prosecutors said.

Over a 12-year period, she filed 13 fake claims “on behalf of others, using the identity of individuals she believed to be deceased,” prosecutors said. “She then approved those false claims and submitted her own bank and address information” to collect the benefits.

In total, Faria stole just over $1,812,000 in benefits, according to the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors said that “a total of 10 fraudulent claims were still active and receiving funds as of the date of (Faria’s) indictment.”

“Even after she retired, she continued to enrich herself illegally,” an FBI agent in charge of the San Juan Field Office, Joseph González, said in the release.

Faria, who also goes by the name Myrna Oliveras-Santiago, did not have an attorney listed in court records as of March 15 and could not be reached for comment.

The indictment had not been filed as of March 15. The district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for court documents.

Faria was indicted and arrested, prosecutors said. She’s facing charges of theft of government funds, mail fraud, misuse of Social Security numbers and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, the charges have maximum penalties ranging from 5 to 20 years each.

“This is embarrassing and despicable conduct by a public official, someone called to serve the people, not take from them,” González said.

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