Investigators say he had a death certificate but he wasn't dead.
Lucio Rodriguez, 52, allegedly conspired with his 53-year-old wife, Rosa Carrasco, to fake his death seven years ago so she could collect insurance and Social Security benefits, according to Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Rodriguez, however, was alive and well, and began living under the name Santiago Carrasco, Amormino said, adding that Rodriguez obtained a drivers license and a Social Security card under the new name.
Acting on a tip, investigators found that the thumbprint on Santiago Carrasco's drivers license matched the one on Rodriguez's license. The two were arrested Monday.
"Death benefits were collected from Social Security and from the Teamsters Union in excess of $500,000. There were four children involved. All the children received benefits as well as the wife. That's not counting life insurance policies," said Amormino.
He said investigators were still trying to determine the exact amount of the insurance benefits she allegedly collected.
Rodriguez, who had been living in Riverside County, was arrested at about 10 a.m. at Morgan Southern Trucking in Fontana, where he had been working as a truck driver. Rosa Carrasco was arrested around 2 p.m. at Macy's department store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, where she worked, Amormino said.
Amormino said the couple initially continued living together even after faking Rodriguez's death.
Both were being held without bail on suspicion of fraud, grand theft, identity theft, theft of Social Security benefits and burglary.
