St. Louis County Woman Sentenced For Defrauding Mercedes Benz, Making False Statements To SSA

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri:

February 2, 2021

ST. LOUIS – United States District Ronnie L. White sentenced Tayon Hutchins-Fowler to 12 months and one day in prison today. The 43-year-old Florissant, Missouri resident pleaded guilty, in December, to one count of making a false statement to the Social Security Administration and one count of wire fraud regarding a scheme to defraud Mercedes Benz.

Hutchins-Fowler submitted an application to the U.S. Social Security Administration for disability payments in which she claimed to be disabled and unable to work because of major depression and other conditions. In reliance on her representations, SSA paid Hutchins-Fowler periodic disability payments from November 2012 through March 2019. These SSA payments totaled approximately $200,000.

During 2012-17, Hutchins-Fowler owned a home health care business and annually received over $100,000 in income from this business during 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Ms. Hutchins Fowler made a series of false statements to SSA in order to continue to receive disability payments from SSA, telling the agency she had not worked, had not received income from working, and had difficulty with shopping, driving, understanding directions, remembering, and getting along with people.

During December 2017, Ms. Hutchins-Fowler purchased a 2018 Mercedes Benz GLC 43 automobile at a dealership located in St. Louis, Missouri, using falsified monthly bank statements, checks, corporate records and tax materials to fraudulently obtain financing for the vehicle.

"This case exemplifies the collaborative nature of our investigative work protecting Social Security’s critical programs from fraud," said Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration. “I want to thank the FBI for working with us to bring this individual to justice, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its support of our investigation.”

This case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the Social Security Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

This press release was produced by the US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri. The views expressed here are the author’s own.