A 65-year-old Fort Myers woman who impersonated her mother's voice in a scheme to continue getting Veteran's Affairs benefits due her mother after the elder woman's death has been sentenced to prison on wire fraud charges.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber's sentence of one year and one day in federal prison for Laurie Ann Roszelle includes an order of forfeiture in the amount of $338,364.66, the proceeds of the fraud. Roszelle pleaded guilty on December 5, 2024.
According to court documents, in 2005, following her mother’s death, Roszelle began appropriating Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) survivor’s benefit payments to which her mother had been entitled.
Roszelle forged her mother’s signature on multiple documents and sent them to the VA to ensure the continued flow of payments.
When the VA discovered the mother’s death and shut off benefits in 2024, Roszelle called the VA claiming that her mother was still alive and asking that benefits be restarted.
In another call, Roszelle impersonated her mother’s voice. When agents from the VA Office of Inspector General visited Roszelle’s residence, Roszelle claimed that her mother was living with her and made a series of fabricated statements about her mother seeing a physician regularly, being mobile, and otherwise being alive and in good health.
Over the course of this 19-year scheme, Roszelle fraudulently obtained $338,364.66 in stolen benefits.
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