Stimulus checks sent to dead people

Antoniette Santopadre (pictured) of Valley Stream, New York was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it, they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago. He'd been a U.S. citizen when he left for Italy in 1933, but only returned to the United States for a seven-month visit in 1969.

Romonini was never on the Social Security system, which didn’t begin until after he left for Italy in 1933.

The Santopadres are not alone. The Social Security Administration, which sent out 52 million checks, says that some of those checks mistakenly went to dead people because the agency had no record of their death. That amounts to between 8,000 and 10,000 checks for millions of dollars.

Click here for the story and a short video of the Antoniette Santopadre interview.