The Justice Department announced charges Tuesday against 17 alleged fraudsters accused of stealing more than $1.3 million in Social Security benefits, including a Chicago woman convicted of keeping her dead mother’s body in a freezer and now suspected of collecting her retirement benefits.
The charges are the result of a monthlong “surge” by the DOJ’s new National Fraud Enforcement Division targeting crimes against the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) benefit programs, which the Trump administration has long suspected are a hotbed for fraud.
“The Social Security Administration’s benefits programs are meant to safeguard America’s elderly and most vulnerable — not to bankroll fraudsters,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, the DOJ’s fraud division lead.
https://nypost.com/2026/09/29/us-news/doj-charges-17-people-accused-of-stealing-1-3-million-in-social-security-benefits-including-woman-who-kept-dead-mom-in-freezer/