Canadian National sentenced in nearly 30-year Social Security benefit fraud scheme

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Ellis Kingsep, aka "Ellis King," 77, a Canadian National lawfully residing in the U.S., was sentenced today to two and a half years in prison and is ordered to pay full restitution for stealing over $420,000 in Social Security benefits over a 30-year period. This sentence highlights the U.S. Attorney's Office's commitment to prosecuting cases involving fraud, waste and theft of federal government program funds.

According to court documents, from roughly 1995 to 2023, Kingsep devised and executed an elaborate scheme to defraud the Social Security Administration (SSA) by causing the agency to send benefits payments intended for Kingsep's mother to accounts Kingsep controlled. Kingsep's mother would now be 103 years old and is presumed deceased.

Court documents explain that Kingsep's scheme included creating an intricate web of mail forwarding requests for his mother's mail by using private postal mailbox accounts in California, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Alaska to conceal that he was receiving his mother's mail and sending correspondence in her name.

Court documents detail that in 2013, the SSA received a change of address notice purportedly signed by Kingsep's mother, stating she was moving to Alaska and requesting her address be changed to one in Fairbanks. The address in Fairbanks was for a mail forwarding service with whom Kingsep had opened an account. Kingsep instructed the mail forwarding service to receive and repackage mail addressed to his mother and ship it to two different private mailbox services located in Vancouver, where Kingsep also had accounts. Under Kingsep's instructions, those services also repackaged and forwarded the already forwarded mail to private mailbox services in Los Angeles, where Kingsep would regularly collect his mail.

Beginning in 1989, Kingsep's mother received SSA benefits by direct deposit to a bank account. In November 1996, the SSA directly deposited her benefits payments to a different bank account held in the names of Kingsep and his mother. Bank security video showed Kingsep regularly withdrawing cash from the account in Los Angeles. The SSA stopped paying the mother's benefits in 2023 after an SSA investigator uncovered Kingsep's scheme. The investigation determined Kingsep's mother would be 103 at the time of sentencing, and that there has been no record of her since 1993 and no death certificate has ever been filed for her.

After his arrest in July 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a storage unit Kingsep rented in Hollywood and found multiple books focused on being "invisible" and creating fake IDs, as well as copies of valid foreign passports in his name, a folder filled with photocopies of his mother's signature, and statements and correspondence from foreign banks holding funds and precious metals for him.

On Dec. 10, 2024, Kingsep pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. Court documents detail that after he pleaded guilty, Kingsep wrote a letter to a witness in the case, indicating the witness was to blame for his arrest. During sentencing, the Court also ordered Kingsep to serve three years on supervised release and pay a $50,000 criminal fine. In handing down the sentence, the Court emphasized the seriousness of the crime based on the total amount stolen and the defendant's elaborate scheme to commit the crime and hide it from discovery.

"Mr. Kingsep manipulated a critical assistance program by fraudulently collecting his mother's social security benefits for nearly three decades and subsequently created an invisible lifestyle to conceal his scheme," said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. "I want to thank the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General for their incredible work on unwinding Mr. Kingsep's elaborate web of lies and misdirection to uncover the full extent of his conduct. Social Security fraud threatens the foundation of a program that millions of people depend on and will not be tolerated. My office is committed to prosecuting perpetrators such as Mr. Kingsep who steal government program funds."

"Mr. Kingsep carried out a sophisticated scheme of manipulation for three decades to illegally collect Social Security benefits intended for his mother," said Michelle L. Anderson, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, performing the duties of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration. "This sentence holds him accountable for deliberately concealing his existence to steal nearly half a million dollars he was not entitled to, diverting it from rightful beneficiaries who rely on these funds."

The SSA, Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bradley prosecuted the case.

Other ongoing Social Security fraud cases

In the last six months, the U.S. Attorney's Office charged four other cases alleging Social Security fraud, marking the start of the Office's close partnership with SSA OIG to prosecute the theft of government funds. The cases are as follows:

• Barbara Coleman, 44, of Cheney, Washington, was charged by information in a nearly four-year-long scheme where she fraudulently converted, for personal use, over $28,000 in Title XVI (Disability Insurance) SSA benefits intended for her uncle. After her uncle died in August 2019, and continuing until July 2023, Coleman converted those funds for her personal use by accessing her uncle's bank account to make purchases and ATM withdrawals with his debit card after his death. Coleman pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money or property the day the charges were filed and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 22, 2025.
• Bernadette Kibby, 44, of Sitka, was charged by information in an over three-year-long scheme where she fraudulently converted, for personal use, over $107,000 in Title II (Federal Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) SSA benefits intended for her father. Kibby's father died in March 2016. In December 2016, and continuing until July 2020, Kibby began accessing her father's bank accounts to make direct payments and purchases, as well as PayPal withdrawals using her father's PayPal account after his death. Kibby is currently awaiting the scheduling of her trial.
• Sarah Korn, 40, of Anchorage, was indicted on charges related to a nearly four-year-long scheme where she allegedly stole over $50,000 in SSA Title II benefits from her stepfather. Korn is also charged with a second count of theft of government funds related to her alleged theft of her stepfather's U.S. Department of Treasury COVID-19 stimulus payment. Korn's trial is scheduled to begin on June 9, 2025.
• Aleksander Savelieff, 55, of Nikolaevsk, was indicted on charges related to a decade-long scheme where he allegedly fraudulently converted, for personal use, over $44,000 in SSA Title II benefits from his mother. After his mother died in June 2013, and continuing until June 2023, Savelieff converted those funds for his personal use by accessing a joint bank account he held with his mother to make payments, purchases and ATM cash withdrawals. Savelieff is also charged with a second count of theft of government funds related to his alleged theft of another person's U.S. Department of Treasury COVID-19 stimulus payment. Savelieff's trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8, 2025.

The SSA, OIG is investigating these cases. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac Caille Petursson is prosecuting these cases.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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