Global Courant
A 65-year-old Poway man has admitted hiding his mother’s death for more than 30 years and using her identity to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits meant for her.
Donald Felix Zampach pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego on Tuesday to Social Security fraud and money laundering, which federal prosecutors say resulted in the theft of more than $830,000 in public funds over more than three decades.
“This crime is believed to be the longest-running and largest fraud of its kind in this district,” US Atty said. Randy Grossman of the Southern District of California. “This defendant was not passively cashing checks sent to his deceased mother. This was an extensive fraud that spanned more than three decades and required aggressive action and deceit to maintain the ruse.”
It began after Zampach’s mother, identified in court records as STZ, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer sometime in 1990 and moved to Japan, where she was born.
Meanwhile, back in Southern California, Zampach filed for personal bankruptcy.
After his mother died in Japan on October 22, 1990, Zampach notified the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo of her death, but intentionally left her social security number on the form so that her monthly benefit checks would continue to be deposited into her bank accounts.
According to the plea deal, Zampach admitted to taking a $126,000 home refinancing loan for a Poway property registered in his mother’s name, even though it was really owned and controlled by him.
He received his mother’s Social Security and Department of Defense survivor benefits and more than $12,000 by filing false tax returns in her name. He also opened several credit card accounts in her name.
When a Social Security Administration special agent contacted him in 2022, Zampach insisted that his mother was alive and living in Japan.
Under his plea deal, Zampach has agreed to pay more than $830,000 in fines and restitution, including relinquishing his Poway home.
His sentencing is scheduled for September 20.
