A woman died in India in 2013, but a dishonest relative, aided by myopic bureaucracy, had her living until 2022, cashing in her disability pension.

This occurred in the city of Granada and resulted in the relative collecting in the deceased’s name 76,907 euros from the said pension.

The Provincial Law Court sentenced her to two years in prison for Social-Security fraud of “notoria importancia” which elevated the offence to a higher degree of castigation.

She was also fined to an equal amount of the sum defrauded, as well as having to pay a compensation amount of 40,000 euros. Furthermore, if she does not refund this amount, the bank where she received the money will be held accountable. The guilty woman is barred from receiving subsidies, benefits, or tax or Social Security incentives for a period of four years.

The woman can lodge an appeal before the Regional High Court (TSJA) if she wishes.

So how did the woman manage to get her hands on a disability pension that was still being paid out? Because she was authorised by the account holder to manage the account; i.e., make withdrawals, deposits, transfers and payments.

The deceased woman’s pension expired in India in 2013, where she resided, which was recorded in the Consular Registry. But, this information was not passed on to Spain and The Social Security Department. This allowed the offender to make 23 cash withdrawals and 82 transfers after the time of the death of the account holder.

The judges said, “During this extended period of time, there was no cancellation of the authorisation, nor of the direct-deposit pension, maintained by the bank, which did not carry out the checks on the pensioner’s financial situation, despite being obliged to do so,” reminding the bank in question of its financial responsibility.

The accused had originally instructed her lawyer to enter a plea of not guilty, insisting that she was not legally bound to inform of the pension holder’s demise, which was rejected by the court, so as the trial progressed, she openly and clearly expressed her guilty, which led the defence lawyer being called to the bar to clarify her position.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Pension, Disability, Deceased, Bank Account, Money Withdrawn Post Death

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