A Minnesota woman managed to steal $360,000 from taxpayers by pretending to be her dead mother for an astonishing 25 years before finally getting caught.
At a Glance
- Mavious Redmond, 54, has pleaded guilty to impersonating her deceased mother to collect Social Security benefits
- The fraud scheme lasted 25 years, beginning after her mother’s death in January 1999
- Redmond stole approximately $360,000 through her elaborate deception
- She faces up to 10 years in prison and fines up to twice the amount stolen
A Quarter-Century of Taxpayer Theft
While the Social Security Administration can’t seem to keep track of whether your benefits will exist by the time you retire, they somehow missed that a Minnesota woman was collecting checks for her dead mother for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. Mavious Redmond, 54, recently pleaded guilty to stealing government funds after running what might be the longest-running Social Security scam in recent memory. The fraudster began her scheme way back in January 1999, immediately following her mother’s death, and kept it going until she was finally caught this year.
The audacity of this scheme would almost be impressive if it wasn’t so infuriating. Redmond didn’t just file some paperwork and hope for the best – she literally showed up IN PERSON at Social Security offices multiple times, pretending to be her deceased mother. She filled out applications using her mother’s information and forged her signature, all while government employees apparently never thought to verify whether they were dealing with someone who should have been in a cemetery for the past quarter-century.
Your Tax Dollars at Work (or Not)
This case perfectly illustrates the utter incompetence of our bloated federal bureaucracy. While honest Americans are working themselves to the bone to make ends meet during Biden’s inflation crisis, government agencies can’t even detect someone claiming benefits for a person who died during the Clinton administration. How many other Mavious Redmonds are out there? How many millions – or billions – of taxpayer dollars are being siphoned from programs that are already barreling toward insolvency? The Social Security Administration couldn’t spot this fraud for 25 years, yet they expect us to trust them with our retirement security?
“We are awash in federal programs fraud” – Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.
Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick at least gets points for honesty, admitting that “We are awash in federal programs fraud.” No kidding, ma’am. When someone can impersonate their dead mother for longer than many Americans have been alive and get away with it, “awash” seems like an understatement. Kirkpatrick further noted that “Redmond stole well more than a quarter million dollars in taxpayer funds. She scammed social security for literal decades.” While her outrage is appreciated, one has to wonder where this vigilance was for the past 25 years.
Consequences (Finally) Coming Due
Redmond officially pleaded guilty to theft of government funds in U.S. District Court on April 9th. She now faces up to 10 years in federal prison, plus potential fines of up to twice the amount she stole. That’s $720,000 if you’re keeping score at home. While it’s satisfying to see justice finally catching up with her, the fact remains that this woman enjoyed over two decades of free government money while the rest of us were dutifully paying our taxes to fund her lifestyle.
“Redmond stole well more than a quarter million dollars in taxpayer funds. She scammed social security for literal decades.” – Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.
This case serves as yet another reminder of why we need serious reform and oversight of our entitlement programs. The Trump administration made efforts to crack down on this kind of fraud, but clearly much more needs to be done. The Social Security system is already projected to face insolvency within the next decade, and that’s WITHOUT accounting for the unknown number of fraudsters bleeding it dry. When the government fails this spectacularly at a basic function like preventing fraud, why should Americans trust it with anything more complicated? Perhaps if they spent less time on woke diversity initiatives and more on making sure they’re not sending checks to dead people, we might have more faith in their competence.
