For over 16 years, a man in Spain continued to receive the deceased father’s reform pension every month without communicating death to the authorities. The case has now come to an end, with the Supreme Court confirming the conviction and oblige the defendant to return 231,306.91 euros to the Social Institute of Navy (ISM), an entity equivalent to Portuguese Social Security for maritime workers.
The case and the amounts concerned
According to the Spanish Economic Journal Five Dias, the case dates back to 1999, the year the pensioner passed away. His widow reported the death to request the widowhood pension, which was granted shortly thereafter.
However, due to an administrative error, payments from the deceased’s pension have never been suspended. The money continued to be deposited in the couple’s bank account, then headquartered in Caja General de Ahorros de Canarias (Cajacanarias), an institution that later integrated into CaixaBank.
Months later, the son was added as a life of the account and began to manage it. Knowing that undue transfers continued to be made, did not communicate the error either the social security or the bank.
Between April 1999 and July 2015, the total amount received improperly reached 317,465.19 euros. Of this amount, the bank returned 79,682.36 euros, corresponding to the last four years, being the defendant responsible for the restitution of the remaining 231,306.91 euros, amount that will now be paid to ISM.
Condemnation, appeal and reversal
In the first instance, the provincial hearing of Santa Cruz de Tenerife considered proven that the defendant “knew that his father’s pension was still deposited in the account” and that he took advantage of this situation “for his own benefit.”
Therefore, he was sentenced to two years in prison, the payment of a fine of 400 thousand euros and the full return of misconduct, and four years prevented from accessing subsidies or benefits of social security.
Subsequently, the Superior Court of Justice of the Canaryes (TSJ) annulled the conviction, understanding that the error was exclusively administrative nature, since the ISM had already been notified of the death by the widow.
The Supreme Court, however, reversed this decision on January 27, 2025, considering that the defendant’s silence configured an omissive and misleading conduct, sufficient to fill the crime of social security fraud.
“Prolonged silence is concealment”
According to the judgment cited by the Supreme, the Supreme underlines that “hiding death is a suitable and sufficient mistake,” since the administration “is not required to prove monthly the survival of the pensioner.”
The decision also states that the defendant “fueled the error in a deliberate way”, extending for years the improper payment and moving the amounts as if they belonged to him.
The Court also stresses that the omission of the beneficiary (or those who have a legal duty to communicate the death) does not exempt it from responsibility, even when there is administrative failure. The duty to inform any irregularity remains, regardless of the negligence of the administration.
A case with precedent value
For the Supreme Court, this case establishes an important precedent: prolonged silence to a payment error is considered active fraud, not simple passivity. The decision ends a judicial dispute of more than a decade and confirms that the defendant must return 231,306.91 euros to Spanish social security.
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