A California man admitted Tuesday that he covered up his mother’s death for more than 30 years while he collected more than $800,000 in government benefits intended for her. According to his plea agreement, 65-year-old Donald Felix Zampach’s mom died in Japan in 1990—which is when her Social Security widow’s pension and DoD annuity should have stopped being paid to her. But Zampach, of Poway, spent the next three decades tricking federal programs into thinking she was still alive—forging her signature and filing fake tax returns—while he raked in about $830,000 for himself. “This crime is believed to be the longest-running and largest fraud of its kind in this district,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “This defendant didn’t just passively collect checks mailed to his deceased mother. This was an elaborate fraud spanning more than three decades that required aggressive action and deceit to maintain the ruse.” Even after investigators caught on to his scheme, Zampach continued to insist his mother was still alive, Grossman said. Zampach pleaded guilty to money laundering and Social Security fraud on Tuesday.
