US man hid mother's death for over 30 years, collected govt benefits worth over $800,000

A man from the US state of California pleaded guilty to hiding his mother's death for more than 30 years to collect government benefits worth over $800,000. In a statement on June 27, the US Attorney's Office, Southern District of California, said that the man,Donald Felix Zampach, admitted that he fraudulently concealed his mother's death for decades and he received and laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in government benefits intended for herthat should have ceased upon her death.

As per the plea agreement, Zampach's mother died in Japan in 1990. At the time of her death, "she was receiving a widow’s pension from the Social Security Administration and an annuity from the Department of Defense Finance Accounting Service."

Shortly before Zampach's mother died, the man fraudulently conveyed her Poway home and filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy, disclosing neither his ownership of the Poway home nor the government benefits payments he was receiving.

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How Zampach received the govt benefits

The US Attorney's Office's statement said that after his mother died, Zampach maintained her bank accounts, forged her signature on eligibility certificates to keep government benefits in pay, and also filed forged federal income tax returns, posing as his mother, for over two decades.

"Zampach admitted that between November 1990 and September 2022, he received at least $830,238 in stolen public money intended for his mother," the statement said.

It added that the California man further admitted to using his mother's identity to fraudulently open credit accounts with at least nine different financial institutions. These institutions suffered losses of over $28,000.

"Zampach admitted to laundering the stolen money to pay off the mortgage on his Poway home, in order to conceal both his ownership of the Poway home and the fact that the money he used constituted criminal proceeds of his fraud," the statement further said.

Zampach to pay over $830,000 in criminal forfeiture

Zampach has agreed to pay more than $830,000 in criminal forfeiture, including the forfeiture of his Poway home to make restitution for his crimes. US Attorney Randy Grossman said this crime is believed to be the longest-running and largest fraud of its kind in the Southern District of California.

"This was an elaborate fraud spanning more than three decades that required aggressive action and deceit to maintain the ruse. He filed false income tax returns, posed as his mother and signed her name to many documents, and when investigators caught up to him, he continued to claim she was still alive," Attorney Grossman added.

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