A federal jury has found Myrna Faría, also known as Myrna Oliveras Santiago, a former Social Security Administration employee, guilty of 23 charges including theft, fraud, and identity theft. Faría, who worked as a Social Security Specialist and Claims Specialist from 1991 to 2019, carried out an elaborate scheme over 12 years, submitting false claims in the names of deceased individuals and approving them herself.
She used her position to obtain $1,812,445.10 in fraudulent funds, which she then withdrew, transferred, and spent. Faría presented a total of 13 fraudulent claims during this time.
She is set to be sentenced on September 29 and faces a mandatory two-year prison sentence for the identity theft charge, to be served consecutively to any sentence imposed for the other charges. The scheme began in 2012 and continued until 2024, with Faría using her own bank account information and address to receive the fraudulent funds.