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Orange County resident Valerie White, 58, of Middletown, pleaded guilty on Thursday, April 14, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $51,532.64, which is the total funds that White illegally stole from the state pension system, said the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
White’s mother was a pensioner, vested in the state retirement system. At the time that White’s mother retired in 2000, she elected to receive her pension benefits in full until her death. When White’s mother died in 2017, the death was not reported to the state and pension benefits continued to be made to an account that White jointly held with her mother, the DA's Office said.
As a result, from 2017 until the pension system learned of the White's mother's death in 2019, over $54,000 was unjustly deposited into the account, the DA's Office said.
While the pension system was able to claw back approximately $2,500 of the amount stolen, the remaining was spent by White on personal expenses, they added.
At the time of her plea, White admitted to stealing the money and that she knew she did not have permission or authority to take the funds, officials said.
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