Ocala Woman Charged With Theft Of Social Security Benefits After Body Found In Lake County Backyard

Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the unsealing of an

According to the facts described in open court today, Kort’s elderly father passed away at his Lake County residence in approximately November 2011. After discovering the body, Kort buried her father in the backyard of her Eustis home and did not report the death to authorities. She then used a power of attorney for her father’s financial affairs to withdraw and spend the Social Security Administration (SSA) benefit payments that were being deposited into his bank account. The SSA eventually suspended these benefit payments in December 2013, when they were unable to contact Kort’s father.

When confronted by investigators, Kort admitted to hiding her father’s body and to defrauding the SSA by unlawfully taking his benefit payments. She eventually led investigators to her father’s grave and subsequent DNA testing confirmed the identity of the remains as Kort’s father.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.