Despite Retired St. Louis Teacher's Death, Daughter Collected $150k In Pension

Feb. 8—ST. LOUIS — For more than seven years after the death of a retired St. Louis teacher in 2012, her daughter kept collecting nearly $150,000 in pension benefits, federal charging documents unsealed this month say.

The teacher's daughter, Cheryl Ladner Kimbrough, has been arrested on five felony counts of wire fraud. She appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Monday.

The indictment says Kimbrough's mother, who is identified only by the initials A.L., retired in 1999 and moved in with Kimbrough in southern Texas. After the death of Kimbrough's mother on Sept. 16, 2012, pension payments continued to be deposited into the joint account she held with Kimbrough.

The Public School Retirement System of the City of St. Louis paid a total of $149,475 into the account until officials learned in October 2019 of A.L.'s death, the indictment says. Including taxes and insurance premiums, the pension system paid out $191,262, the indictment says.

Kimbrough failed to notify pension officials of her mother's death and used the money for personal expenses, the indictment contends.

No lawyer was listed for Kimbrough in online court documents.

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