Crime
The man allegedly concealed a person’s death from the government so he could fraudulently receive their retirement benefits.
A Winthrop man was charged Friday for allegedly committing Social Security fraud for over four years, according to prosecutors.
Kenneth Riel, 51, was indicted on one count of receiving stolen government money or property and one count of Social Security fraud-concealment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement. He was arrested Friday and released after appearing in federal court that afternoon.
Riel allegedly received about $88,383 in stolen Social Security retirement benefits from February 2019 through November 2023, prosecutors said. He also allegedly concealed from the Social Security Administration that someone he knew who was receiving…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.