A New York man has been indicted and arraigned on federal charges accusing him of stealing Social Security benefits intended for his deceased mother-in-law over roughly a decade, using forged checks and then direct deposit fraud once the program shifted away from paper checks.
Federal prosecutors say Zvonko Klapan, 68, of Liverpool, New York, was arraigned this week in Binghamton before Magistrate Judge Miroslav Lovric after a grand jury returned an indictment on June 18, 2026. The indictment includes counts of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of government property tied to benefits he allegedly took after the beneficiary’s death. Authorities say the matter is part of a broader push to stop fraud against federal benefit programs.
According to the indictment, Klapan’s mother‑in‑law died in 2016 and the Social Security Administration was not notified of her death. Prosecutors allege Klapan forged her signature on monthly paper benefit checks and deposited those payments into his own account from August 2016 through September 2025. When the agency moved away from paper checks to direct deposit in September 2025, the indictment says he switched tactics and posed online as the deceased beneficiary to have payments routed into his personal bank account.
The alleged direct deposit scheme is said to have continued from September 2025 until April 2026, and investigators put the total loss at more than $142,400. The indictment lays out multiple wire fraud counts that each carry a possible maximum sentence of 20 years, theft of government property counts with penalties up to 10 years, and a mandatory minimum term of two years for aggravated identity theft. Restitution to the government could also be ordered if convictions follow, though the filing stresses these are accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Officials announced the charges this week, noting that the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General is handling the investigation with prosecutorial partners. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and SSA‑OIG Special Agent in Charge Amy Connelly were listed as the announcing officials in court filings and public statements. The case is scheduled for a jury trial on September 21, 2026, before Chief Judge Brenda K. Sannes in Syracuse, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Arne F. Soldwedel is prosecuting the matter.
“This defendant is finally facing justice after ten years of fraud, during which he stole, and forged Social Security benefits checks intended for his deceased mother‑in‑law,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone. “He then brazenly expanded the scheme by using her name to apply online for direct deposit payments from the Social Security Administration into his own bank account. My office remains committed to uncovering and prosecuting fraudulent schemes like this that callously divert resources from legitimate surviving beneficiaries.”
“Allegedly exploiting a deceased beneficiary’s identity for personal gain over a decade is a deliberate theft from a program that millions of vulnerable Americans rely on,” said Amy Connelly, Special Agent-in-Charge, Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General (SSA OIG), Boston–New York Field-Philadelphia Division. “Together with our prosecutorial and law enforcement partners, SSA OIG will continue pursuing those who steal taxpayer dollars through fraud and identity theft, regardless of how long they attempt to evade detection.”
The SSA‑OIG is leading the investigation into how paper checks were handled and how online account information was manipulated to reroute funds. Prosecutors will present bank records, forged signatures, and digital evidence at trial if the case proceeds to that stage. The probe and forthcoming trial will focus on the pattern of alleged conduct stretching from 2016 through spring 2026 and the switch from paper checks to electronic payments that prosecutors say the defendant exploited.
The Department of Justice recently created the National Fraud Enforcement Division to concentrate resources on schemes that steal from Americans and defraud federal programs. That division is described as working alongside President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, to go after fraud, waste, and abuse in benefit programs. From prosecutors’ statements, this case is being presented as an example of the kind of long‑running abuse the new enforcement structure aims to detect and stop.
