Igel Casanova Gibbins of Montz was charged June 15 with theft of government funds after the Social Security Administration determined that Gibbins allegedly obtained $200,396 in disability benefits from her father’s Capital One Bank account.
If convicted, Gibbins faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, followed by up to three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and a mandatory $100 special assessment.
United States Attorney Duane A. Evans said that according to the case’s Bill of Information, the case against Gibbins began after the State of Louisiana complied with a request from the Social Security Administration to provide the SSA with death data of approximately 1.6 million Social Security number holders who had died in Louisiana from January 1, 1979, through December 31, 2019.
As part of that data, the State of Louisiana disclosed that D.C., a participant in the SSA’s Retirement Survivor Insurance program and Gibbins’ father, died on or about August 16, 2012.
Unaware of D.C.’s death, the SSA erroneously released approximately $202,417 in program funds from August 2012 through December 2020 via direct deposit to D.C.’s jointly held Capital One Bank account. The case files detail that while Gibbins was a joint account holder of the Capital One account, D.C.’s program benefits were not transferrable to her.
Following the automatic deposit of program benefits, Gibbins allegedly accessed the funds and wrongfully converted the funds to her own personal use.
“The funds were used on purchase transactions or transfers out of the account to pay bills, for example, such as for mortgage payments and vehicle loan payments,” the case file states. “Gibbins never advised the SSA of D.C.’s death.”
Evans reiterated that the Bill of Information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
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