A Rochester woman has admitted to stealing nearly $13,000 in pension payments that continued after her mother’s death — and has now repaid the full amount as part of a plea deal.
According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller, Karen Walsh, 68, pleaded guilty to petit larceny in Rochester City Court after investigators uncovered that she kept collecting her deceased mother’s state pension for over a year.
How the theft happened
Walsh’s mother was receiving monthly pension payments as the surviving spouse of a former New York State employee. When she passed away in 2020, those payments should have stopped. But Walsh failed to report the death to the state retirement system and instead withdrew $12,973 for her own use.
Investigators say she accessed the funds by transferring over $8,000 into a second account in her mother’s name — one she also controlled — and used forged checks and online payments to cover personal expenses like credit card bills, groceries, and home improvements…