Being dead for 18 months didn’t stop pension from being collected. Here’s why
A South Carolina woman is guilty of stealing pension benefits — mistakenly intended for a dead relative — for months, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Effie Mae Youmans, a 71-year-old Columbia resident, pleaded guilty to theft of public money by collecting pension benefits that she was not entitled to accept, the U.S. Attorney’s office said Thursday in a news release.
Youmans, a former Department of Energy employee, collected the benefits for 18 months after her relative died, according to the release.
An investigation showed that Savannah River Nuclear Site officials learned that one of its retirees had died, but the individual’s pension benefits were still being received, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
According to Savannah River Nuclear Site’s investigator, no one informed the energy facility about the retiree’s death at the time, so Savannah River Nuclear Site continued to make pension payments to the individual’s account, according to the release. Savannah River Nuclear Site made 18 months of payments after the death, at a rate of $3,025 per month, totaling $54,450, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Investigators determined Youmans, a relative of the retiree, withdrew the overpayment funds from the bank account, according to the release. As a Savannah River Nuclear Site pension recipient herself, Youmans knew she was not entitled to the relative’s pension funds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Youmans after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office, according to the release.
As part of Youmans’ plea agreement, she will repay the stolen money, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
This case was investigated by the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Potterfield is prosecuting the case. Information about Youmans’ attorney was not available.
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