Latest Legal News from the Federal Criminal Courts in the United States

May 24, 2007

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION EMPLOYEE CONVICTED OF EMBEZZLING BENEFITS ORDERED TO PAY BACK MONEY

(CORPUS CHRISTI) – Nina Berlanga-Aleman, 55, a Social Security Administration employee, has been ordered to pay back almost $14,000 in social security benefits she embezzled for a former inmate, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

Indicted in February 2007 for knowingly and willfully embezzling U. S. property, Berlanga-Aleman, of Corpus Christi, pleaded guilty to the charge and was convicted in March. On May 16, 2007, U. S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack ordered Berlanga-Aleman to serve a five year probationary term with six months of home confinement and to pay $13, 935 in restitution to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

On July 24, 2006, Berlanga-Aleman, then an employee of SSA, embezzled and converted $14,248 in Social Security Administration (SSA) funds. The funds represented Social Security Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance benefits suspended from payment to the “beneficiary”, a person who had been incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for the preceding 15 months. Federal law prohibits payments of this type of benefit to persons confined in correctional institutions. Despite knowing the “beneficiary” had been incarcerated and not entitled to the benefits, Berlanga-Aleman reportedly felt sorry for the inmate and processed the necessary SSA forms to recover all of the suspended and overpaid benefits for the former inmate. Berlanga-Aleman’s embezzlement was discovered when the former inmate “beneficiary” wrote a letter to a friend still incarcerated at a TDCJ facility and bragged about how easily she had obtained the suspended funds.

This matter was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General Office of Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Julie Hampton.