AIKEN, S.C. () – A former director of voter registration and elections in Aiken County has been convicted by a federal jury for fraudulently receiving more than $168,000 in Social Security benefits, as announced by the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday.

Cynthia Delores Holland, 61, of Aiken, was found guilty after a day and a half-long trial.

Investigations revealed that Holland “wrongfully acquired her mother’s retirement benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) following her mother’s death in 2013.” The payments continued erroneously into a joint bank account until 2022, when the SSA detected the mistake and stopped the payments. It was reported that Holland did not alert the SSA about the mistake but, instead, transferred the funds to her own account for personal use.

The U.S. DOJ announcement highlighted that the discrepancy was identified through the SSA’s Death Match Project, which matched death verification requests from the state against the list of retirement beneficiaries.

Holland could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, in addition to a potential fine of up to $250,000, restitution, and three years of supervised release following imprisonment. Sentencing will occur post a report by the U.S. Probation Office.

“Cynthia Holland took advantage of her mother’s death to defraud a program intended to aid the most vulnerable,” stated Michelle L. Anderson, Acting Inspector General for SSA. “Her deceit is especially concerning due to her status as a former public official. We remain committed to holding accountable those who misuse Social Security for personal benefit.”