A United States court has sentenced a Nigerian social worker, Akeatha Diane Akintola, to five years in prison for stealing Social Security benefits intended for an orphaned child with disabilities under the care of the Snoqualmie Tribe in Washington State.
The sentencing was announced by the Office of the First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Charles Neil Floyd, following Akintola’s guilty plea to a charge of theft of public funds involving $17,638 meant for the child.
According to court records, Akintola began working as a social worker for the Snoqualmie Tribe in January 2023. In September of the same year, she allegedly applied by telephone to become the Social Security Representative Payee for a minor with intellectual disabilities who was a ward of the tribe.
The child had been receiving survivor benefits following the death of the child’s mother. However, tribal policies prohibit social workers from serving as representative payees for children under the tribe’s care.
Prosecutors said Akintola nevertheless used the child’s Social Security number and her own personal information to obtain authorization as the child’s representative payee. Once approved, she allegedly diverted the benefits into a bank account under her control and spent the funds for personal use.
The fraud came to light in July 2024 when Akintola accompanied her supervisor to the Social Security Administration to inquire about the child’s benefits. Authorities said Social Security officials informed them that Akintola had been designated as the representative payee. She reportedly denied having assumed the role and resigned from her position with the tribe the following day.
At the sentencing hearing, Magistrate Judge S. Kate Vaughan condemned the offence, describing it as an “ethical breach beyond imagining” and emphasizing that the defendant had targeted an exceptionally vulnerable victim.
A representative of the Snoqualmie Tribe told the court that social workers are entrusted with protecting children who have experienced trauma and instability, adding that Akintola had abused that trust for financial gain.
“The defendant did not just steal money; she manufactured a false relationship of safety with a traumatized child, exploiting that unearned trust for financial gain,” the tribal representative said.
Court documents further revealed that Akintola failed to appear for an earlier plea and sentencing hearing scheduled for May 22, 2026. Investigators later discovered that she had left the United States two days earlier and travelled to Togo using a passport issued under a different surname.
She eventually appeared before the court on June 17, 2026, where Judge Vaughan ordered her into immediate custody to begin serving her sentence.
In addition to the prison term, Akintola was ordered to pay $17,638 in restitution to the Social Security Administration and has been permanently barred from serving as a Social Security Representative Payee in the future.
The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the Snoqualmie Tribal Police, while prosecution was handled by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M. Ly, a lawyer specially designated to prosecute Social Security fraud cases.