Crime & Safety
Man Cashed Deceased Father's Retirement Checks for 9 Years, Sheriff's Office Says
The New York City Police Department was never informed of the father's passing in 2003, a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report states.
A Wesley Chapel man was arrested Wednesday and charged with organized fraud for cashing his deceased father's retirement benefits checks for nearly nine years, according to a Pasco County complaint affidavit.
According to an incident report, James Joseph Stenhouse, 48, has been cashing checks from the New York City Police Department since his father, James Stenhouse Sr., passed away in 2003. Family members did not notify the police department of his death, according to an attorney for The City of New York Law Department, the report stated.
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The checks totaled $133,772, according to the report. Stenhouse "believed the checks were survivor benefits owed to him," the incident report stated.
Stenhouse was released from the Land O' Lakes Jail early Thursday morning on $50,000 bond.
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