A Kentucky woman was charged with collecting workers’ compensation benefits intended for her deceased mother, whose benefit checks were still sent after she died in 2011.
Sheryl Colson (McClure) could access her late mother’s accounts, and was able to sign and deposit checks into her mother’s bank account which she then used to make debit card purchases. Her mother was injured in 1997 and received $400 a month from her former employer, Orange-Ulster BOCES, a self-insured entity in Goshen, NY. The mother moved to Kentucky in 2007 and monthly checks were still sent even after she passed away in 2011. Authorities estimate that her daughter stole nearly $40,000 in benefits and spent the money on bills, restaurants and other goods.
Ms. Colson was arrested in Kentucky and then extradited to New York where she was arraigned and will have to appear in court. New York Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott’s office investigated the case.
“This defendant’s morbid abuse of her deceased mother’s account and her years-long theft of funds must be answered for,” she said. “I will continue dedicating the resources of my office to protect the critical benefits that are meant to assist honest, hard-working New Yorkers.”
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