PORTLAND, Maine — A Berwick woman has been ordered to pay nearly $60,000 regarding Social Security and housing assistance fraud allegedly committed for just shy of a decade.
Andreanna Politano, 60, was sentenced on Thursday at the U.S. District Court in Portland by Chief Judge Jon Levy after pleading guilty on September 12 last year, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maine.
Politano was "ordered to pay $49,976.38 in restitution to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and $9,164.00 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)," and was also sentenced to three years of probation.
From March 2009 to February 2020, Politano reportedly concealed her husband's presence in her household to receive Supplemental Security Income payments, according to court records. From January 2018 to June 2021, her husband was concealed to receive housing voucher subsidy benefits.
"Politano’s husband had sufficient income to render her ineligible for the benefits she received," the release said.
She reportedly admitted to law enforcement to concealing her husband from SSA and HUD "because she knew it would make her ineligible to receive benefits."
The SSA’s Office of the Inspector General and HUD’s Office of the Inspector General reportedly conducted the investigation.
