Woman Charged With Stealing Dead Father's Benefits

A Hudson County woman has been indicted on charges of stealing $272,223 by fraudulently collecting her father’s Social Security, permanent disability and pension benefits for more than 12 years after he died. Sylvia Wilkerson, 67, of Jersey City, was charged with second-degree theft by deception, second-degree theft by unlawful taking and fourth-degree forgery. Investigators say Wilkerson’s father died in September 2004 and that she continued to collect his benefits, which were direct-deposited into a bank account bearing his name. She allegedly withdrew a “significant...