A Winnipeg man who collected more than $80,000 from his dead mother’s pension payments has been given a suspended sentence.
Government pension payments from both Canada and the U.S. had been paid into a joint bank account held by Dieter Wrzeciona and his mother. He has admitted to taking the funds from that account.
The 66-year-old Wrzeciona initially told authorities that his mother was still alive and living in a nursing home. So far, Wrzeciona has repaid $53,000 to the U.S. government. The court has ordered him to pay back just under $29,000 to the Canadian government.
Wrzeciona’s mother spent much of her life working in the United States. She had dual citizenship and was collecting an employment pension in the U.S. and an old-age pension in Canada.
She died in 2002 and her son never reported her death.