California man hid his mom’s death for 30 years, collected $800K in benefits meant for her
A California man has pled guilty to concealing his mother’s death for three decades and collecting more than $800,000 in benefits meant for her.
Donald Felix Zampach, 65, of Poway, California, faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court this week to money laundering and Social Security fraud, admitting he hid the death of his mother, who died in 1990, and forged her signature on documents and income tax returns to continue getting her government benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of California.
“This crime is believed to be the longest-running and largest fraud of its kind in this district,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman in a news release. “This defendant didn’t just passively collect checks mailed to his deceased mother. This was an elaborate fraud spanning more than three decades that required aggressive action and deceit to maintain the ruse."
Zampach told authorities that before his mother died in Japan in 1990, he fraudulently conveyed her home to himself and filed for bankruptcy. After she died, he forged her signature on eligibility certificates to continue receiving her widow’s pension from the Social Security Administration and an annuity from the Department of Defense Finance Accounting Service, the attorney’s office said.
Zampach also said he used his mother’s identity to open credit accounts with at least nine different financial institutions, causing them to suffer a loss of more than $28,000, authorities said. Zampach said he laundered the stolen money to pay off the mortgage on his Poway home. Overall, Zampach said he received at least $830,238 in stolen public money between November 1990 and September 2022.
“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,” Grossman said. “As a result of this fraud, he received more than $800,000 in stolen public money.”
Under the plea agreement, Zampach has agreed to pay more than $830,000 and forfeit his Poway home in restitution. He was released on bail pending a Sept. 20 sentencing hearing.