Poway man hid mother’s death, collected benefits for 32 years

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A 65-year-old Poway man has admitted he hid his mother’s death for more than 30 years and used her identity to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits that were meant for her.

Donald Felix Zampach pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego on Tuesday to Social Security fraud and money laundering, which federal prosecutors said resulted in the theft of more than $830,000 in public funds over three decades.

This crime is believed to be the longest and largest fraud in this district, US Atty. Randy Grossman of the Southern District of California. This defendant was not simply collecting checks sent to his deceased mother. It was an elaborate fraud spanning more than three decades that required aggressive action and deception to maintain the ruse.

It began after Zampach’s mother, identified in court records as STZ, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1990 and moved to Japan, where she was born.

Meanwhile, back in Southern California, Zampach filed for personal bankruptcy.

After his mother died in Japan on Oct. 22, 1990, Zampach notified the US Embassy in Tokyo of his death, but deliberately omitted his Social Security number from the form so that his monthly benefit checks would continue to be deposited into his bank accounts.

According to the plea agreement, Zampach admitted to taking out a $126,000 home refinance loan for a Poway residence that was under his mother’s name, even though it was actually owned and controlled by him.

He received his mothers’ Social Security and Department of Defense survivor benefits and more than $12,000 from filing a false tax return in his name. He also opened multiple credit card accounts in his name.

When a special agent from the Social Security Administration contacted him in 2022, Zampach insisted that his mother was still alive and living in Japan.

According to his plea agreement, Zampach agreed to pay more than $830,000 in fines and restitution, including giving up his Poway home.

His sentencing is set for September 20.

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