Three Parents Charged with Stealing Social Security Benefits from Children

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three parents have been charged and two have pleaded guilty to receiving their children’s Social Security disability payments while the children were not in their care.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Tracey Thanos, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, announced the charges.

Shannon Scott, 35, of Columbus, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King on Wednesday. Scott lost custody of her child in 2014 but falsely represented to Social Security that her child was still living with her in order to continue receiving her child’s disability payments through July 2018. In total, she fraudulently obtained more than $35,000.

Jennifer Riggs, 40, of Heath, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King in June. In 2016, Riggs lost custody of her child but continued accepting the child’s Social Security benefits through May 2018, receiving nearly $17,000 in disability payments.

Maddo Tamboura, 42, of Whitehall, was charged by a federal grand jury on Thursday and arrested today. According to his indictment, Tamboura kept Social Security payments for two children that did not live with him, totaling more than $19,000.

Converting Supplemental Security Income benefits is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigations by the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General and Special Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Landry, who is prosecuting all three cases.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three parents have been charged and two have pleaded guilty to receiving their children’s Social Security disability payments while the children were not in their care.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Tracey Thanos, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, announced the charges.

Shannon Scott, 35, of Columbus, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King on Wednesday. Scott lost custody of her child in 2014 but falsely represented to Social Security that her child was still living with her in order to continue receiving her child’s disability payments through July 2018. In total, she fraudulently obtained more than $35,000.

Jennifer Riggs, 40, of Heath, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King in June. In 2016, Riggs lost custody of her child but continued accepting the child’s Social Security benefits through May 2018, receiving nearly $17,000 in disability payments.

Maddo Tamboura, 42, of Whitehall, was charged by a federal grand jury on Thursday and arrested today. According to his indictment, Tamboura kept Social Security payments for two children that did not live with him, totaling more than $19,000.

Converting Supplemental Security Income benefits is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigations by the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General and Special Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Landry, who is prosecuting all three cases.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.