Kansas mom’s $87K Social Security fraud used her children who didn’t live with her

A Kansas woman has admitted to cheating Social Security out of nearly $87,000 by claiming benefits for children who did not live with her.

Teresa Grant was sentenced earlier this month to three years of probation after previously pleading guilty to one count of unauthorized acquisition of Social Security Administration benefits. She was also ordered to pay $86,674 in restitution and a $100 special assessment, but was not fined.

Grant’s original indictment in U.S. District Court in Wichita had included two additional charges of false statement or representation. Those were dropped as part of a plea deal.

She was 38 years old and living in Arkansas City when the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the case in August 2019. Lawyers said the crimes happened in Sedgwick County.

Grant admitted in her plea agreement that she willfully and knowingly defrauded the federal government. Her scheme started in 2016, after the death of her husband, when she claimed Social Security survivor’s benefits for her three minor children. The deceased husband was not the father of the children. The children lived full-time with their biological fathers and never resided with their mother while she collected $86,674 in SSA benefits between 2016 and 2019.

The maximum penalties of the charge to which she pleaded guilty were up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors recommended probation. The judge made payment of restitution a mandatory condition of her probation. She does not have to pay interest on the money.