A former Bellevue social worker will serve five months in prison for stealing the social security benefits intended for a minor with intellectual disabilities who is a ward of the Snoqualmie Tribe, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Akeatha Akintola, 48, pleaded guilty on June 19 to taking over $17,638 in benefits meant for that child.
According to records in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation, Akintola started working as a social worker for the tribe in January 2023. By September, she had applied for Social Security benefits as the child’s representative.
The DOJ said the child’s mother died, leaving her benefits to the child. According to the DOJ, the Tribe prohibits its social workers from becoming a representative payee for any child under its care.
Once Akintola was approved by the Social Security Administration (SSA), the money went into a bank account controlled by Akintola, according to the DOJ.
In July 2024, after she had been collecting the funds for five months, she and her supervisor asked the SSA why the victim wasn’t getting their benefits. It was at that meeting that the fraud was uncovered, though Akintola denied it, the DOJ said.
Akintola‘s plea and sentencing hearing were originally scheduled for May 22, but investigators found that she left the US for Togo, West Africa using a passport issued under another last name shortly before her original court date.
At Akintola‘s hearing, a tribal representative said that she was meant to be a “safekeeper” but that she had taken advantage of a vulnerable child instead.
She was sentenced to five months in prison on June 19.
According to the DOJ, she must pay back all the money she stole and is banned from becoming a SSA payee for anyone in the future.
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