SOCIAL SECURITY: Woman Arrested for Alleged Social Security Fraud

March 24, 2011

Bakersfield – Authorities have arrested Nancy Ann Keenan, 56, Wednesday after a federal grand jury issued a warrant of arrest for alleged use of her Aunt’s name to steal money from the government.

Keenan was charged of receiving Social Security retirement benefits from 2003 to 2010 that amounted to over $70,000. The benefits belong to her aunt who already died in 2003. However, she never told the Social Security Administration of her aunt’s death so the agency did not cease on sending money to her aunt’s bank account.

The U.S. Attorney's office said that Keenan was not an owner of that bank account, but she signed checks drawn from the account spending the funds for her personal use.

She pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston. If proven guilty of Social Security fraud, she will be imprisoned for 10 years maximum and will be fined $250,000.