Additional Coverage:
- Woman jailed for stealing $360k by posing as dead mom for 25 years in Social Security scam (themirror.com)
An Austin, Minnesota woman has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for a 25-year Social Security fraud scheme. 54-year-old Mavious Redmond impersonated her deceased mother to collect retirement benefits, ultimately amassing $360,627.
U.S. Attorney Joseph H.
Thompson condemned Redmond’s actions, stating, “This wasn’t free money. It was taxpayer money, stolen from a program built on the hard work of Minnesotans who paid in every paycheck.”
The scheme began in January 1999, shortly after Redmond’s mother passed away, and continued until June 2024. Redmond used her mother’s Social Security number and other identifying information, even impersonating her during phone calls and in-person visits to the Social Security Administration (SSA).
She even contacted the SSA to inquire about the termination of benefits upon death, despite already knowing her mother was deceased. The SSA explicitly instructed her to report the death, but she failed to do so.
Redmond’s fraud also extended to COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments, where she received $3,200 deposited into her mother’s bank account.
Redmond’s lawyer, Robert Meyers, portrayed her as a desperate individual driven by circumstance, not a hardened criminal. Court documents reveal Redmond lived with her parents her entire life and struggled financially after her mother’s death, working at Subway for $8 an hour and relying on food pantries. While acknowledging his client’s actions were wrong, Meyers argued her “desperate circumstances” provided context for her decisions.
Following the exposure of her scheme, Redmond briefly worked at McDonald’s before being terminated. She has since relocated to the Twin Cities area, where she resided in a homeless shelter and worked as a housing stabilization advocate.
Meyers emphasized Redmond’s commitment to rehabilitation and expressed confidence in her ability to learn from her mistakes. Following her prison sentence, Redmond will serve one year of supervised release.