A Missouri woman was sentenced in federal court for a Social Security and bankruptcy fraud scheme.
Carol L. Dille, 68, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to two years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Dille to pay $76,601 in restitution.
On Jan. 31, 2020, Dille pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of bankruptcy fraud. Dille admitted that she filed an online application for Social Security retirement insurance benefits in September 2013, using the identity – including the name, date of birth, and Social Security number – of her former husband, Gerald Sanders, from whom she separated in 2009. Sanders had been living overseas since the 2009 separation and was unaware that Dille filed the application.
Dille, representing herself as Sanders, provided her own address, phone number, and email address as contact information. Dille, while still representing herself as Sanders, indicated benefits should be directly deposited into the bank account of “Alliance of Divine Love Chapel 1202,” of which she was the sole authorized signer on the account.
In June 2016, as Sanders neared his 65th birthday, Dille emailed him offering to help set up his benefits – even though she had been secretly collecting them herself for nearly three years. She pretended to help him and to be sympathetic to his financial distress while diverting $1,420 a month of his benefits to her own bank account.
In August 2016, Sanders moved from Indonesia to Guam. After his move, Sanders went into the Guam Social Security office to check on his application. At that point, he was told a claim had already been filed and the Social Security Administration had been paying monthly benefits in his name since October 2013. As a direct result of the fraudulent application filed by Dille, the government paid a total of $76,601 in monthly benefits earmarked for Sanders.
In addition to the Social Security fraud scheme, Dille used the Alliance of Divine Love Chapel bank account twice to commit bankruptcy fraud.
On May 7, 2015, Dille filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. She claimed $500,001 to $1 million in estimated liabilities but failed to list – effectively concealing – the Alliance of Divine Love bank account. Dille’s bankruptcy case was dismissed on Oct. 5, 2015, because she failed to make required payments.
On March 9, 2016, Dille again filed for bankruptcy. Dille again failed to list – effectively concealing – the Alliance of Divine Love bank account. This case was dismissed on May 5, 2016, because Dille again failed to make the required payments.
The court also ruled today that Dille violated the terms of her plea agreement by committing another crime between the time of her guilty plea and today’s sentencing. Within three months of entering her guilty plea, Dille committed bankruptcy fraud again when she concealed the attempted sale of a real estate parcel that was an asset of her bankruptcy estate, and the related sale documents, from the bankruptcy court and U.S. Trustee’s Office. Dille admitted that had the sale gone through, she did not intend to use the proceeds to repay her bankruptcy creditors.
This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney R. Pratten and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leigh Farmakidis. It was investigated by the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General.
