A former Social Security Administration supervisor has pleaded guilty to stealing the identities of dead men to help women fraudulently collect over $3.3 million in government benefits, federal prosecutors announced this week.
David Lam, 45, of Pearland, Texas, previously worked as an operations supervisor and claims specialist at the SSA's Houston office. While in that role, he exploited his access to sensitive records to steal the personal information of recently deceased men, KXXV reported.
The fraud, which spanned several years, involved creating fake survivor benefit claims with no real basis. According to U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei and court documents obtained by the outlet, Lam worked with multiple women, often mothers, who falsely claimed that the deceased men were fathers or stepfathers of their children.
Lam filed applications using the stolen names, birth dates and Social Security numbers to make it appear the families were entitled to survivor benefits. In return, the women sent Lam a portion of the benefits through apps like Zelle and CashApp. None of the children listed were actually related to the deceased men.
Lam pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and aggravated identity theft. He admitted responsibility for $3,346,280 in fraudulent payouts and has agreed to pay full restitution. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy charge, plus a mandatory two years for the identity theft count.
His sentencing is scheduled for September 12.
