Tampa Woman Charged With Wire Fraud After Concealing Aunt's Death to Collect Benefits

TAMPA, Fla. — Rebecca Stewart Vaughn, 64, of Tampa, was charged May 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida with four counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government money for an alleged scheme that concealed her aunt's death to continue receiving the deceased woman's federal benefits.

The indictment states Vaughn disposed of her aunt's body to hide the death while collecting Social Security payments and pension benefits that should have ended. Per the Department of Justice announcement, the charges cover more than $75,000 in proceeds the government seeks to forfeit.

If convicted, Vaughn faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each wire fraud count and up to 10 years for the theft count.

Social Security provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits to more than 70 million Americans. Federal pension programs deliver monthly payments to eligible retirees or their survivors under rules that require prompt reporting of a beneficiary's death. The alleged conduct kept both streams of payments active after the aunt died.

The charges shift the case from administrative overpayment recovery to criminal prosecution. The forfeiture notice puts Vaughn on formal notice that the government intends to seize assets traceable to the payments. Sentencing would follow any conviction under federal sentencing guidelines that weigh the amount of loss and nature of the concealment.

Downstream, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida must now prove the elements of wire fraud — use of interstate wires in furtherance of the scheme — and theft of government money. The Social Security Administration and pension provider will supply payment records as evidence.

Any conviction would trigger mandatory restitution orders to repay the full amount received after the date of death.

This prosecution follows a pattern of federal cases targeting benefit fraud that relies on failure to report deaths. The Department of Justice has brought similar indictments in multiple districts involving concealment of decedents to obtain continuing Social Security, veterans' and railroad retirement payments. The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.