A former employee of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and aggravated identity theft, according to U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
David Lam, 45, of Pearland, previously served as an operations supervisor and claims specialist at the Social Security Administration (SSA) office in Houston. As part of his plea agreement, Lam admitted to stealing personal identifying information (PII) of recently deceased men and using it to file fraudulent benefits claims.
According to court documents, Lam worked with multiple co-conspirators—typically women with children—by submitting fraudulent survivor benefit applications. These applications falsely named deceased men as the fathers or stepfathers of the children, which would make the women eligible to receive SSA benefits. Investigators determined the women had no relationship with the deceased men and that the claims were fabricated…