Woman Must Repay $2,400 After Cashing Deceased Mom's WC Checks

Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | 0

A Rochester woman must repay $2,400 in workers' compensation benefits after she forged her deceased mom's signature on checks and kept the money for herself, New York authorities said.

Devon Lloyd-Fountain, 45, was sentenced to three years' probation and full restitution. She pleaded guilty to petit larceny in defrauding the workers' compensation system, the New York State Inspector General's Office said in a statement.

An investigation by the office found that Lloyd-Fountain cashed eight benefits checks mailed to her mother, after her mother died in 2015. The woman forged her mother’s signature, deposited the checks into relatives’ bank accounts and then withdrew the money for her own use. Worker’s compensation benefits are supposed to cease upon the death of a recipient.

In total, Lloyd-Fountain defrauded the workers’ compensation system of $2,400. 

“This defendant used her own mother’s passing to enrich herself with financial benefits to which she was not entitled and must now pay back every cent she stole,” said Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott. 

Scott thanked the Special Funds Conservation Committee for its assistance with the investigation, the New York State Police for their assistance with the arrest, and Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley and her office for prosecuting the case.