CONCORD — Hudson resident Jane B. Smith, charged in February with federal offenses accusing her of fraudulently collecting $90,000 in disability benefits over 11 years, has pleaded guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court.

Smith, 65, pleaded guilty to attempted wire fraud and making false statements, according to Acting U.S. Attorney John J. Farley. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13, and faces a maximum of up to 20 years in prison.

Farley said in a statement that Smith began receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments in 1993, and at the time was told she was required to report to the Social Security Administration (SSA) any changes in her employment status and income.

But at the beginning of January 2007, according to officials and court documents, Smith began working “for several employers,” one of whom was the Internal Revenue Service.

But Smith allegedly concealed her employment from the SSA, “knowing that her earnings would have reduced her SSDI benefits, or made her ineligible to receive SSDI benefits.”

However, between April 2011 and July 2017, the SSA discovered Smith was employed, and suspended her benefits several times, authorities said.

But each time, Smith “took steps to cause the SSA to resume wiring her SSDI benefit payments that she was not entitled to receive.

“SSA wired the SSDI benefit payments to Smith’s account at a Methuen, Massachusetts credit union from the U.S. Treasury in Kansas City, Missouri,” officials said.

Then, in February 2018, Smith called Nashua police and “filed a false police report claiming that she was the victim of identity theft, and that someone else had used her name” while working for her various employers.

Smith also “made similar false statements to the IRS and the SSA, in an effort to secure benefits that she was not entitled to receive,” officials said.

In February, three years after she was accused of filing the false reports to police, the IRS and SSA, Smith admitted to federal agents “that she had lied about her work, and falsely claimed to be the victim of identity theft, because she did not want to lose her benefits,” officials said.

The investigation determined that Smith, “as a result of her criminal conduct, obtained more than $90,000 in benefits” to which she was not entitled,” they added.

Representatives of the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration conducted the investigation, according to Farley, the Acting U.S. Attorney.

“While Social Security disability benefits provide important financial support for qualified individuals, some criminals seek to take advantage of this system,” Farley said.

“By lying about her employment and falsely claiming to be a victim of identity theft, this defendant sought to exploit this program to obtain money that she knew she was not entitled to receive.

“As this case shows,” Farley added, “we work closely with the Office of the Inspector General to identify fraud and protect the integrity of Social Security’s benefit programs.”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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