By Forum Staff
A Queens woman was sentenced on Monday to five years’ probation and paid full restitution after being convicted of stealing nearly $85,000 in State pension payments meant for her deceased father, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced.
Deanna Hansen, 38, pleaded guilty to felony grand larceny in June.
Hansen’s father retired from the State Department of Transportation in March 2003. He was receiving a direct deposit of his pension into a bank account that was in his and his deceased wife’s name. He died in April 2020, at which time, the pension payments should have stopped. In July 2022, the State retirement system learned Hansen’s father had died and stopped payments. At that time, Hansen also contacted the retirement system about beneficiary information.
Photo Courtesy of DA Soares
Albany County District Attorney David Soares
Deanna Hansen did not inform the system of her father’s death. Instead, after her father’s death, Hansen accessed her deceased father’s account online to obtain $67,423 through an online payment platform. She also made several thousand dollars of personal purchases and spent an additional $14,914 on payments to the management company of her father’s condominium, where she resided. In total, Hansen stole $84,754.13 in pension payments to which she was not entitled.
“People who steal from the state retirement system will be caught and held accountable. Deanna Hansen learned that hard lesson today,” DiNapoli said. “I thank Albany County District Attorney David Soares for partnering with my office to protect the state retirement system.”
