A Minnesota woman has pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government funds after an investigation was launched into her 25-year-long Social Security fraud scheme.
This news comes amidst the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) crackdown on mass Social Security fraud.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, Mavious Redmond of Austin, Minn., impersonated her deceased mother for years in order to collect Social Security benefits that belonged to her mother. Redmond collected over $360,000 that were intended for her mother, per the U.S. Attorney.
The 25-year scheme reportedly began in January of 1999 following the death of Redmond’s mother and lasted through June of 2024. During that time, Redmond impersonated her deceased mother on multiple occasions “to keep her fraud scheme going.”
“For example, on June 4, 2024, Redmond personally visited the SSA office, posing as her deceased mother, and submitted a fraudulent SS-5 Application for Social Security Form using her mother’s name, date of birth, Social Security number, and forging her deceased mother’s signature,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Later that same month, Redmond again visited the Social Security Administration (SSA) office and “resubmitted her deceased mother’s documentation and the form with the forged signature.”
The investigation into this scheme was launched by the SSA’s Office of Inspector General. On April 9, Redmond pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government funds in U.S. District Court. The 54-year-old’s sentence will be decided at a later date.
“We are awash in federal programs fraud,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick. “Redmond stole well more than a quarter million dollars in taxpayer funds. She scammed social security for literal decades. No more. My office will continue to aggressively pursue the federal programs fraud that plagues Minnesota.”
Just days ago, the Social Security Administration announced it would be implementing new anti-fraud measures for claims submitted via telephone. The new measures are “designed to protect beneficiaries and streamline the customer experience.”
Anti-fraud initiatives at the SSA are backed by Elon Musk, the head of DOGE. During a recent interview on Fox News, Musk and one of his DOGE engineers said that a significant amount of daily calls made to the SSA are from people attempting to change legitimate recipients’ direct deposit destinations in efforts to steal Social Security money.
Sarah Prentice
Sarah Prentice has previously written for Campus Reform and worked as an intern at Media Research Center. While continuing to pursue her degree in political science, she worked full-time in communications and media outreach for a pro-woman, pro-life non-profit. Now a fellow at Alpha News during her senior year of college, she hopes to graduate with her political science degree from SUNY Brockport and combine it with her media and communications experience to pursue political journalism. She has a special interest in reporting on stories related to social issues, education, public health, and religious freedom.
