Former Bellevue Social Worker Sentenced to Prison for Stealing Benefits from a Vulnerable Victim

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington

A 48-year-old former Bellevue, Washington woman was ordered into custody yesterday to serve five months in prison for stealing the Social Security benefits intended for a disabled minor – a member of the Snoqualmie Tribe, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Akeatha Diane Akintola pleaded guilty yesterday to theft of public funds for the $17,638 she stole from the tribal member. At the sentencing hearing, Magistrate Judge S. Kate Vaughan said she was struck by the fact that Akintola “targeted a vulnerable victim” – there is “no one more vulnerable” than the victim in this case. The crime was an “ethical breach beyond imagining,” Judge Vaughan said.

According to records filed in the case, Akintola became a social worker for the Snoqualmie Tribe in January 2023. In September 2023, Akintola applied by telephone to be the Social Security Representative Payee for a minor child with intellectual disabilities who was a ward of the Tribe. The child’s mother had died leaving survivor benefits to the child. The Tribe prohibits its social workers from becoming a representative payee for any child under its care. Nevertheless, Akintola used the child’s Social Security number and her own to apply to be the minor child’s representative payee and, once appointed as such, had the benefits intended for the child deposited into a bank account she controlled. Akintola spent the money that was deposited in the account for her own benefit, including a purchase at a North Bend retailer.

In July 2024, after Akintola had been collecting the benefits for at least five months, she went with her supervisor to the Social Security Administration to determine what had happened to the victim’s funds. When Social Security reported that Akintola was the representative payee, Akintola denied it to her supervisor. She resigned from her position with the Snoqualmie Tribe the next day.

Speaking to the impact of the theft, a Tribal representative told the court, “In our profession, a social worker is meant to be a safekeeper. A protector for children who have been stripped of their safety, family, and stability. Ms. Akintola did not just fail in that duty; she weaponized her position of power to systematically steal from a grieving, autistic child … her future independence…. This money was not a luxury. It was a lifeline…. The defendant did not just steal money; she manufactured a false relationship of safety with a traumatized child, exploiting that unearned trust for financial gain.”

The plea and sentencing hearing was originally scheduled for May 22, 2026, but Akintola failed to appear. Prosecutors learned she had left the U.S. on May 20, 2026, and traveled to Togo in West Africa using a passport issued in a different last name.

Akintola appeared for the plea and sentencing hearing yesterday, and Judge Vaughan ultimately ordered her into custody to begin serving the sentence immediately.

Akintola must pay $17,638 in restitution to the Social Security Administration. She is precluded from becoming a Social Security Representative Payee for anyone in the future.

The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG) and the Snoqualmie Tribal Police.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M Ly. Ms. Ly is an attorney with the Social Security Administration specially designated to prosecute Social Security fraud in federal court.