TEANECK, NJ – Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of WANDA LYNN SERMON, of Teaneck New Jersey on a charge of theft by deception. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Jason Love, and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General’s Office of Investigations New Jersey Field Division under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John F. Grasso, with the assistance of the Teaneck Police Department under the direction of Chief Glenn M. O’Reilly.
On Tuesday, June 22, 2021, detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit received information from the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General’s Office of Investigations New Jersey Field Division regarding WANDA LYNN SERMON and the unauthorized usage of Social Security disability benefit funds issued to a deceased person. An investigation revealed that SERMON failed to notify the Social Security Administration of her brother’s death and instead assumed control of his bank account and continued to access Social Security disability benefit funds intended for her deceased brother for approximately sixteen months. Over this period, SERMON continually accessed and used for her own benefit $20,438 in disability funds to which she was not entitled.
On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, WANDA LYNN SERMON was arrested and charged with one count of third-degree theft by deception, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-4(c). SERMON was released pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.