FAIRBANKS, ALASKA — A 77-year-old Canadian man, Ellis Kingsep, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for executing a 30-year Social Security fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska announced this week.
Kingsep was also ordered to:
Repay $420,000 in stolen benefits to the Social Security Administration (SSA)
Pay a $50,000 criminal fine
Serve three years of supervised release following his prison term
Decades-Long Fraud Uncovered
Federal prosecutors say Kingsep, who was legally residing in the United States, illegally collected Social Security payments that were meant for his mother, who is presumed to have died sometime after 1993. Authorities have found no trace of her activity since that year, and no death certificate was ever filed.
The fraud reportedly began in 1995 and continued until 2023, when a federal investigation revealed the scheme. Kingsep was arrested in July 2024 and pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in December 2024.
Sophisticated Mail Scheme
According to court documents, Kingsep built “an elaborate scheme” using a complex network of mail forwarding services and private mailboxes in California, Vancouver, and Alaska. These tactics helped him conceal the fact that his mother was deceased and that he was receiving and responding to correspondence in her name for nearly three decades.
Federal Response
Federal prosecutors highlighted the case as an example of long-term fraud against U.S. government programs, noting the scale and sophistication of the deception.
Kingsep’s sentence was handed down in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.
