English Original
"They're going to kick me out of my own home," said Karl Berger, 86 years old. Karl is a widower with no living children. When his wife died a couple of years ago, he told the Social Security Administration (SSA) to stop sending her monthly checks. The agency continued to send them. A clerk advised Karl to mail a follow-up letter with his wife's date of death, but the checks kept coming. Needing the money, Karl cashed them.
When SSA finally realized its mistake, it demanded Karl repay $5,900 plus interest. Karl's annual income is only $12,000, slightly above the poverty level. His only savings of $5,000 was spent on his wife's funeral. He is a veteran of the fierce Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II, which left him deaf in one ear and nearly blind in one eye.
He lives alone in his small house, takes a weekly bus to visit his wife's grave, and spends his time carving wooden military figures. He donates these carvings to a local charity, which sells them to help feed the homeless.
SSA gave Karl six months to repay the debt in full, threatening to seize his home otherwise. Karl asked if he could pay $30 a month, all he could afford.
"That's insufficient," said William Shatner, an SSA agent. "We know he is a war veteran, but that doesn't entitle him to free money. He knew his wife was dead, yet he cashed her checks. That is fraud, pure and simple."
中文翻译
"他们要把我从自己的家里赶出去，" 86岁的卡尔·伯杰说。卡尔是一位鳏夫，没有在世的子女。几年前妻子去世时，他就告知社会保障管理局（SSA）停止寄送他妻子的月度支票。但该机构仍在继续寄送。一名职员建议卡尔邮寄一封包含妻子死亡日期的后续信件，但支票依然不断寄来。由于需要钱，卡尔兑现了这些支票。
当SSA最终意识到其错误时，它要求卡尔偿还5,900美元及利息。卡尔的年收入仅为12,000美元，略高于贫困线。他仅有的5,000美元积蓄已用于妻子的葬礼。他是二战期间惨烈的硫磺岛战役的老兵，这场战役使他一只耳朵失聪，一只眼睛几乎失明。
他独自居住在自己的小房子里，每周乘公交车去给妻子扫墓，其余时间则在家雕刻木制军人雕像。他将这些雕刻品捐赠给当地一家慈善机构，该机构出售它们以帮助为无家可归者提供食物。
SSA给了卡尔六个月时间全额偿还债务，否则将没收他的房屋。卡尔询问他是否可以每月支付30美元，这是他所能负担的全部。
"这不够，" SSA代理人威廉·夏特纳说。"我们知道他是一位战争老兵，但这并不赋予他免费获得金钱的权利。他知道妻子已去世，却兑现了她的支票。这就是欺诈，纯粹而简单。"