Brooklyn Woman Indicted for Stealing Over $130,000 in Social Security Benefits Intended for Deceased Mother

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Brooklyn Woman Indicted for Stealing Over $130,000 in
Social Security Benefits Intended for Deceased Mother

Defendant Allegedly Filed False Reports to Conceal
Mother's Death, Collected Benefits for 13 Years

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn woman has been arraigned on an indictment in which she is charged with grand larceny and filing false documents for allegedly collecting her deceased mother's Social Security benefits for more than a decade, totaling over $130,000.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, "This defendant allegedly took advantage of her mother's death to steal from a program that provides earned benefits to retirees and their families, ultimately defrauding taxpayers for over a decade. My office remains committed to protecting public funds, rooting out scams and ensuring that those who exploit social safety net programs face justice."

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Katrina McCloud, 52, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Michael Kitsis on an indictment in which she is charged with second-degree grand larceny and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. She was released without bail and ordered to return to court on November 19, 2025.

The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, the defendant served as her mother's Representative Payee for Social Security benefits prior to her mother's death. After her mother died, the defendant allegedly failed to notify the Social Security Administration and continued to collect monthly payments of approximately $1,000 between 2012 and 2024, totaling $132,528.

The investigation further revealed that the defendant allegedly filed false Representative Payee Reports - annual documents required by the Social Security Administration to verify how benefit funds are being used for a recipient's care - indicating that her mother was still alive and that the payments were being used for her benefit, deceiving the Social Security Administration into continuing payments for more than a decade.

The District Attorney thanked Special Agent Mark Balsam of the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General, Special Agent Joseph LoBiondo of Homeland Security Investigations, Postal Inspector Aileen Santiago of the United States Postal Inspection Service and Detective Michael McCaffrey of the New York City Police Department for their work and partnership on the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Karen Turner, of the District Attorney's Frauds Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gavin Miles, Chief of Intake & Case Assessment for the District Attorney's Frauds Bureau, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division and Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeil, Chief of Investigations.

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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant's guilt