FREEPORT, N.Y (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Nassau County officials arrested a woman on Tuesday for allegedly receiving her grandmother's social security benefits for more than a decade after her death.
Alexandria Sobrane, 46, of Freeport was arraigned Tuesday on grand larceny for allegedly received approximately $48,335 in SSA benefits that she was not entitled to, prosecutors said.
According to the investigation, Sobrane's grandmother, Hannah Sobrane, was born in 1920, and wrote children's books under the name Babe Power.
Beginning in 1985, Hannah Sobrane began receiving Social Security retirement benefits in the name of Babe Power. After the woman passed away in 2008, her granddaughter, Alexandria Sobrane allegedly continued to cash her grandmother's social security checks at a local grocery store.
She later allegedly contacted the Social Security Administration and requested that the benefits be deposited on a debit card, officials said.
Sobrane is due back in court on March 27. If convicted, she faces a potential maximum of two and one-third years to seven years in prison.
"The defendant allegedly bilked the Social Security Administration out of nearly $50,000 by continuing to cash her grandmother's check well after the woman passed away in 2008," DA Donnelly said. "Social Security retirement benefits are meant to help Americans in their golden years, not enrich criminals. I thank our partners at the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General for partnering with my office on this investigation."
