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Lexington Park resident Mary Francis Biggs, 65, was convicted by a jury this week for conspiracy to commit theft of government property and for theft of government property in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain additional military disability benefits for her husband from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
During the scheme, prosecutors said that between 2016 and 2019, Biggs and her husband received more than $170,000 in disability benefits and early retirement payments.
Biggs participated in a conspiracy organized by her daughter, Angela Farr, 36, in which false and fraudulent documents were submitted to the VA in support of disability claims in the name of Biggs’ father and Farr’s father, according to prosecutors.
The documents alleged that Biggs’ husband was homebound and required full-time assistance for basic tasks such as eating, bathing, and dressing, when in fact, he lived an ordinary, active life.
Officials noted that during “at least some of the time,” Biggs and Farr concealed their fraud plan.
Prosecutors did not disclose Biggs’ husband’s name, only mentioning that he was a member of the US Navy from January 1974 through January 1997, and he "received a 100 percent service-connected disability rating by the VA, and Special Monthly Compensation (SMC), based on fraudulent documentation submitted as part of the conspiracy.”
It was later determined by the VA that based on the fraudulent documentation about the soldier’s alleged medical conditions, he was unfit to manage his finances, and Biggs was named his fiduciary.
Officials said that specifically, Biggs and Farr conspired to exaggerate his claims, which involved the submission of fraudulent and fictitious medical documents. They also conspired to conceal the fact that he was actively employed at the time to the VA.
Biggs used the ill-gotten gains on daily living expenses, cruise vacations, and a kitchen renovation, even though she was aware that her husband was not entitled to the payments.
In total, Biggs and Farr net more than $170,000 in VA benefits during their scheme.
Investigators noted that Farr and her husband at the time, Michael Pace, also used a similar scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $350,000 in benefits.
Biggs faces a maximum sentence of five years for the conspiracy and 10 years in federal prison for the theft of government property. No sentencing date was scheduled by US District Judge Paula Xinis.
Farr and Pace, 42, both of Leonardtown, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.
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