CINCINNATI – A 76-year-old Cincinnati woman has been ordered to repay $461,780 that she illegally took from the Veterans Administration over 48 years by impersonating her mother, who died in 1973.
Irene Ferrin was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati today to five years of probation, including one year of home detention.
According to court documents, Ferrin’s mother was receiving widow’s benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs when she died in January 1973. Ferrin did not notify the VA of her mother’s death and kept receiving checks, forging her mother’s signature on the back. In ensuing years, she led the VA to believe her mother was still alive. She sent fraudulent paperwork to the VA from 1982 until 2017 to keep the theft going.
“For nearly 50 years the defendant stole from the military veterans of this country and now, at this time of her life, is facing a criminal sentence,” said Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “That’s not a legacy you want to leave for your loved ones.”
