Mavious Redmond, a 54-year-old resident of Austin, Minnesota, has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison, followed by a year of supervised release. The sentencing comes after Redmond was found to have carried out a 25-year scheme to steal Social Security Retirement Insurance Benefits intended for her deceased mother.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson commented on the case, stating: “Redmond’s scheme was brazen and shameless,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “For 25 years, she posed as her dead mother to steal more than $360,000 in social security benefits. This wasn’t free money. It was taxpayer money, stolen from a program built on the hard work of Minnesotans who paid in every paycheck. Cases like this are part of the broader fraud crisis gripping our state, where too many see taxpayer programs as their own personal piggy banks. We will not let it stand. We will keep bringing prosecutions until every fraudster in Minnesota understands there is a price for stealing from the taxpayers.”
According to court documents, Redmond began her fraudulent activity in 1999 after her mother's death by contacting the Social Security Administration (SSA) under false pretenses to learn about benefit termination procedures but then chose not to report her mother’s passing. Instead, she continued collecting Social Security funds using forged signatures and official documents containing her mother's personal information.
Redmond repeatedly impersonated her deceased mother both over the phone and in person when dealing with federal agencies and changed addresses associated with her mother's benefits to match her own relocations over the years.
In June 2024, Redmond visited an SSA office posing as her late mother and submitted a fraudulent application for Social Security using falsified details.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also mistakenly believed Redmond's mother was alive due to these actions and issued $3,200 in COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments into an account accessed by Redmond.
Judge Brasel highlighted aggravating factors during sentencing, noting that Redmond’s fraudulent activities spanned over two decades and involved impersonation before multiple federal agencies.
The investigation was conducted by the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General and the IRS. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Evans prosecuted the case.
