BOSTON — A former Haverhill man kept the federal Social Security disability checks rolling in for nearly six years — about $87,817 worth — before federal prosecutors put a stop to it, according to a charging document filed in Boston.
Christopher D. Leon, 56, was charged with one count of receiving stolen government money or property after he allegedly collected stolen Social Security disability payments from November 2019 through August 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He is due to appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
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The charge carries up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 — or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentencing in federal cases is set by a district judge under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The arrest is one of the first under U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley's new Benefit & Voter Fraud Team, a district-wide initiative launched on March 26, 2026 in response to what Foley's office described as "rampant fraud being uncovered across Massachusetts." Two senior federal prosecutors run the team full-time as Fraud Coordinators.
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It's the kind of case Massachusetts has been quietly stacking up since federal investigators began pulling on the benefits-fraud thread. In February, a Colombian national living in Boston was convicted at trial of collecting more than $400,000 in taxpayer benefits — including roughly $101,200 in Social Security disability payments — under a stolen identity she had used for more than two decades. She also voted in the 2024 presidential election.
The federal push has only widened. On April 7, the Department of Justice announced a new National Fraud Enforcement Division to coordinate cases like Leon's nationally. It plugs into a White House task force chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance aimed at fraud, waste, and abuse inside federal benefit programs.
Massachusetts residents who suspect benefits fraud can report it to Foley's office at 1-855-SCAM-MA-1.
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