Jun 13, 2017

A Tawdry Scheme

     From the Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram and Gazette:
A city man who worked administering federal Social Security benefits in Worcester pleaded guilty to a bribery charge Friday in connection to allegations he orchestrated thousands in overpayments to claimants for personal gain. ...
According to an affidavit filed in federal court by Tawnya Patterson, a criminal investigator with the Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, the alleged activity occurred between August of 2016 and Sept. 2016. The case for which he was charged involved an $8,600 payment that a specific claimant did not deserve — a payment he facilitated, the records show, by creating false documents in exchange for $2,000. ...
Mr. Klapper, she alleged, processed multiple changes to accounts for disabled children who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), “to which the claimants were not entitled.
“In total, Klapper was believed to have changed SSI records a total of 22 times for seven beneficiaries, resulting in underpayments of less than $5,000 each time being due to the claimants,” she wrote.

The case that resulted in the bribery charge included requests for sexual pictures and implied sexual acts, the records show, before Mr. Klapper ultimately accepted $2,000. ...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not entirely clear what went down, but this moron was bound to get caught eventually. I wouldn't doubt if one of his claimants called the general line and spilled the beans without even knowing they were. The insinuation seems to be that a manager questioned releasing extra funds to a dedicated account and that is what got him caught- not likely.

Anonymous said...

The number for reporting fraud is clearly listed on almost correspondence from the Social Security Administration.

Anonymous said...

I would called for a full investigation into that office and the Area Director Office of the Boston Area itself. Who ran or ignored the criminality at the onset??!!