Minnesota State Wire

Mavious Redmond, a 54-year-old resident of Austin, Minnesota, has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison followed by a year of supervised release for orchestrating a long-term Social Security fraud scheme. The sentencing was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.

“Redmond’s scheme was brazen and shameless,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “For 25 years, she posed as her dead mother to steal more than $360,000 in social security benefits.  This wasn’t free money.  It was taxpayer money, stolen from a program built on the hard work of Minnesotans who paid in every paycheck.  Cases like this are part of the broader fraud crisis gripping our state, where too many see taxpayer programs as their own personal piggy banks.  We will not let it stand.  We will keep bringing prosecutions until every fraudster in Minnesota understands there is a price for stealing from the taxpayers.”

Court documents show that Redmond began her fraudulent activity in 1999 after her mother died and continued through June 2024. She unlawfully collected $360,627 intended for her deceased mother by repeatedly assuming her mother's identity over two decades.

Redmond contacted the Social Security Administration (SSA) following her mother’s death under false pretenses, asking what steps would be required if her mother had passed away. Although informed by SSA staff that she needed to report the death so benefits could be stopped, Redmond chose not to comply and instead initiated the scheme to receive benefits illegally.

Over time, Redmond expanded on this deception by consistently impersonating her late mother—using forged signatures and biographical details on official documents—and updated addresses linked to benefit payments whenever she moved. On multiple occasions, she interacted with federal agencies both over the phone and in person while pretending to be her deceased parent.

A notable incident occurred on June 4, 2024, when Redmond visited an SSA office impersonating her mother and submitted a fraudulent application using falsified information and signatures.

The investigation revealed that Redmond’s actions also led the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to believe that her mother was still alive during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in $3,200 of Economic Impact Payments being deposited into an account controlled by Redmond.

In delivering the sentence, Judge Brasel highlighted aggravating factors including the duration of the fraud—spanning more than two decades—and Redmond's repeated impersonation of her deceased parent before multiple federal agencies.

The case resulted from investigations conducted by both the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General and the IRS.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Evans prosecuted this matter.