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He also said he was in the process of hiring an attorney, declining to say how he would plead in the emerging case. Doumar and his counsel could have an uphill climb when they appear before

a judge since, according to the affidavit, he admitted to the wrongdoing. THE JIG'S UP In July, Doumar got the last Social Security check meant for his late aunt. On July 14, he was

interviewed at his home by federal agents and when asked about her, he sighed, slumped his head and stated, “that's a long story … what happened was, well she's passed and yes,

I've been collecting her Social Security,” the affidavit says. He stated there were times over the years when he stopped cashing the checks, but realized if he stopped, “then he would

be caught, so he continued cashing them,” it says. What led to this bizarre turn of events? Here's what emerges in the 16-page affidavit and statements from Oregon's U.S. attorney

and other government officials. The aunt was born in New York City on Aug. 7, 1905, when Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House. In August 1970, at age 65, she applied for Social Security

benefits and said she wanted to start receiving them that month. But her wages in 1970 made her ineligible to receive retirement benefits. By August 1977, the Social Security Administration

initiated retirement benefits to her using her initial benefit application, the affidavit says. The first retirement check payable to her went out in September 1977 — but by then, she'd

been dead for more than six years, having passed away in March 1971. Toward the end of her life, the aunt was in a nursing facility in Brooklyn from about 1969 until her death in 1971.

Doumar also lived in Brooklyn then, and he said he did not recall how he obtained regular possession of the checks after her death. He said at one point he reported her death to the Social

Security Administration (SSA), but its records show no indication her passing was ever reported or noted in its systems. At first, he cashed her checks at a New York business he owned, but

in 1989, he moved to Oregon. That year, Doumar allegedly forged his aunt's signature to add her name to a joint checking account he had with his wife at U.S. Bank. The checks were

mailed to a business in Klamath Falls that Doumar has owned since 1990: Frontier Parcel & Fax Services, a commercial mail-receiving location.