Community Chat

[millieshops]

With millions of transactions a day, any system will have glitches. Honest, capable people don't exploit a glitch for 30 years. Sounds to me as if this woman failed one of those tests - over and over.

[lulu2]

never-mind

[PinkyPetunia]

I watched the show and the woman claimed her mother told her that she (the daughter) would continue to get benefits or payments. A flimsy excuse. Ignorance of the law is not a defense but I would prefer the money to be repaid plus a stiff penalty rather than jail time.

[adelle38]

On 3/16/2015 PinkyPetunia said:

I watched the show and the woman claimed her mother told her that she (the daughter) would continue to get benefits or payments. A flimsy excuse. Ignorance of the law is not a defense but I would prefer the money to be repaid plus a stiff penalty rather than jail time.

So if she REALLY believed it, I assume she reported these payments as income on her tax returns.

[lulu2]

On 3/16/2015 adelle38 said:

On 3/16/2015 PinkyPetunia said:

I watched the show and the woman claimed her mother told her that she (the daughter) would continue to get benefits or payments. A flimsy excuse. Ignorance of the law is not a defense but I would prefer the money to be repaid plus a stiff penalty rather than jail time.

So if she REALLY believed it, I assume she reported these payments as income on her tax returns.

Excellent point about reporting the money as income on their taxes.

As I said on another thread I wanted to shake (really smack would be a better term) her.

If she said one more time she didn't feel she committed a crime; what an actress.

"Sandra Kimbro: I'm a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and now a felon.

Like a lot of people, she took in her aging, ill, mother and had a joint bank account with her. When her mother died, the disability benefits kept coming.

Scott Pelley: When did she die?

Sandra Kimbro: She died--1984.

Scott Pelley: When she died, did you report her death to Social Security?

Sandra Kimbro: I did not.

Scott Pelley: Why not?

Sandra Kimbro I thought perhaps it would have been taken care of by the funeral director at some point.

Scott Pelley: Were you surprised that these benefits kept coming to you?

Sandra Kimbro: No, not initially. Because I had had a conversation with my mom prior to her death, that I would be entitled to the benefits. So I had just assumed and went along with that, thinking that I was entitled.

Scott Pelley: And what did it come to?

Sandra Kimbro: Over a 30-year period, $160,000.

Though she took the checks for three decades, otherwise, Sandra Kimbro is no one's idea of a thief. She and her husband had good, full-time jobs through retirement, a solid middle class life, and raised two children. But then, came an unexpected call from Social Security.

Sandra Kimbro's mother would have been 93 and hadn't used Medicare in 30 years. Kimbro was charged with theft, pled guilty, and is now looking at at least a year in prison. She spoke with us, she said, to warn others.

Sandra Kimbro: I've spent 66 years, no criminal history. Haven't done nothing wrong, lived a good life, did everything I was supposed to do, be a law-abiding citizen. And succumbed to this human error. And this is where I am. And obviously "felon" is not compatible with the other three things that I said. But it is my reality."

[Chrystaltree2]

Oh, please. What else could the thief say. If she had the sense to cash the checks, she had enough sense to know that she should have told SSA that her mother died. She didn't feel entitled to anything, she was just a common thief. She should spend time in jail and be forced to repay the money. We had something like that happen in my own family. My mom's aunt lived with my mom's sister and her husband during the last two years of her life. She received SSA Retirement benefits and when she passed away, my aunt and her husband "forgot" to notify SSA and they deposited their checks in their account for about a couple of years. Well, SSA did find out that my Great Aunt Bea died and an SSA rep visited my aunt's home and they had to provide the death certificate. They thought everything was over but several months later, they received a certified letter telling them to report to the SSA on a particular date and time. At the time, my mom didn't know anything about any of this. My aunt and her husband pretended to be suprised and mystified about the meeting asked my mother to go with them. Some SSA brass and a several laywers were there, the meeting was recorded. My mom, who had a heart conditions, was so shocked that she got dizzy and almost passed out. She couldn't imagine what was going on. And then the meeting started and the theft came out. My mom said it was pretty scary but she explained that she knew nothing about it, it was all a total surprise to her. The SSA even had copies of the forged checks. My aunt and uncle had a choice that they had to make on the spot. Refund all the stolen money or be prosecuted. SSA gave them something like 5 days to return with a certified check for the full amount. Which they did. The funny thing is they were stealing the checks but they were well off, they didn't NEED that money. My mom and my aunt were very close but after that, they didn't speak for a couple of years.

[DoneTryin]

Social Security is a train wreck. I called them the day after my mom passed & the rep told me it was too late to stop the next payment, & that I should ask the credit union to have them refuse the direct deposit. I did that, & the payment did not go into mom's account; it bounced back to Social Security. However, I got a nasty letter from Social Security a few weeks later, threatening me with legal action if I took that payment & that I should send it back. The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

As for that lady on 60 Minutes, at first I thought she was just ignorant & naive, but after listening to her, she sounded pretty intelligent, so it's hard to believe she could have been so stupid.

[adelle38]

Sandra Kimbro: I've spent 66 years, no criminal history. Haven't done nothing wrong, lived a good life, did everything I was supposed to do, be a law-abiding citizen. And succumbed to this human error. And this is where I am. And obviously "felon" is not compatible with the other three things that I said. But it is my reality."

With one exception, she's been committing a felony for 30 years.

[Madisson]

I did not see the segment. I hope they did a psychiatric evaluation on this woman. Apparently, from what I read online, she and her mother had a joint bank account. It sounds like the woman might be mentally disabled...especially since the mother told her that she would be able to receive SS based on her mother's benefits....after her mother was gone. She knew enough to lie to the bank tellers though...although she really didn't owe any explanation to them.

[hckynut]

Any person(adult)that has NEVER worked should not receive anyone's SS benefits, deceased spouse or otherwise. If you did not "haul any water" you should not be allowed tom"drink from the trough", PERIOD! That is why the SS safe is filled with nothing but IOU' s.