Prison sentence for Spanish woman who had been collecting deceased grandmother's pensions for 22 years

The Andalusian High Court of Justice also handed the granddaughter a 148,000-euro fine and and ordered her to pay back 113,128 euros

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 18:57

A woman in Spain whose name appeared on a bank account into which her grandmother's state and widow's pensions were paid has been caught having continued to receive the money for 22 years. The country's national institute of social security (INSS) continued to pay these benefits from when the woman died on 9 January 1994 until 6 October 2016.

During this time, the granddaughter continued to receive the money, "deliberately concealing it and acting as if the grandmother was still alive for more than 22 years" despite knowing that she was not entitled to either pension. In total, she unduly collected 147,928.09 euros.

She would withdraw the money from her local Cajasur bank branch without either the branch or the INSS being aware of the irregularity. During this time, the bank did not carry out "due control of the survival of the pension holder".

However, the bank argues that it acted diligently, "because the accused did not inform the bank of the death of her grandmother, because the director of the branch asked the accused on numerous occasions for the ID card of the pensioner and she always assured him that her grandmother was alive".

Two years in prison

Eventually, when the Social Security alerted the bank of the death, the director and another employee wanted to ascertain the death by going to the pensioner's home and asking for her, to find that, in the presence of the accused, another family member said: "We have been caught."

It was on 6 October 2016 that the INSS in Cordoba raised the alarm when they realised that the pensioner had been dead for 22 years, but that the pension was still being paid and someone was fraudulently collecting it. As a result, they cancelled the payment of both benefits and requested the amount that had been unduly received.

The Social Security managed to recover from Cajasur a total of 34,799.50 euros corresponding to the period from November 2012 to September 2016, but 113,128.50 euros remained to be paid. The woman refused to return the money and that is when Social Security filed a complaint accusing her of benefit fraud.

Now the Andalusian High Court of Justice has sentenced the granddaughter to two years in prison and to pay a fine of 147,928.09 euros. Furthermore the sentence states that "in the event of non-payment of the fine, she would have to face subsidiary personal liability consisting of one day of imprisonment for every ten thousand euros not paid". In addition, it imposes the loss of eligibility for subsidies and the loss of entitlement to tax or social security benefits or incentives for a period of four years.

The granddaughter must also pay, by way of compensation, to the INSS the outstanding amount of 113,128.59 euros.

Evidence

The bank argued that it acted with the diligence that its "limited means" allowed it, "lacking the police and investigative powers that the public administration does have, and could not avoid also being a victim of the defendant's deceit". The court accepts this argument, but stresses that the bank's "laxity" is "indisputable".

The sentence goes on to say, "And of course, we can think of many means available to the bank to carry out these checks itself, from requiring the pensioner to present herself in person at the branch with her ID card (of course, asking the granddaughter to present her grandmother's ID card was not a suitable means of verification, if she was ever required to present it), if the director ever asked her to do so at all), to demanding the production of some official document of recent date such as proof of life or clinical documents of medical care if she was unable to travel, or ultimately resorting to what the director says he did to ascertain the death: going to the client's home to visit her."

The bank also argued to the High Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) that the Social Security claim was time-barred, as the regulations only allow claims for payments over the last four years. However, the appeal was dismissed, with the Provincial Court upholding the claim. They stressed that the bank had not fulfilled its obligation to verify whether the pensioner was still living: "The bank simply ignored or forgot its obligation", which enabled the defendant to continue to fraudulently collect the pensions for two decades.

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