CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Florida woman has been sentenced for stealing more than $328,000 in West Virginia pension funds over a 15-year period.
Semiha Nilgun Gencsoy, 71, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was sentenced Thursday to five years of federal probation and ordered to pay $328,478.38 in restitution after pleading guilty to possession of stolen money.
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Federal prosecutors said Gencsoy continued collecting pension benefits from the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board (WVCPRB) long after both her parents had died.
Her father, a retired professor at West Virginia University, began receiving benefits in 1985. After his death in 2007, Gencsoy’s mother collected survivor benefits until her death in 2008.
Court documents show Gencsoy failed to notify the retirement board of her mother’s death and instead kept the joint bank account open, allowing the payments to continue.
From May 2008 through June 2023, more than 180 payments totaling $328,478.38 were deposited into the account. Gencsoy admitted she routinely transferred the money into her personal account and spent it on her own expenses.
The case was investigated by the WVCPRB and the West Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston handed down the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan T. Storage prosecuted the case.
