A Social Security employee in Fayetteville has been charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and theft of government property after allegedly attempting to steal $700,000 meant for low-income and elderly people, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Since 2010, Saint Pauls, North Carolina, resident Stephanie Chavis, 42, allegedly used her position as operations supervisor at the Social Security Administration to divert $700,000 meant for beneficiaries of the Supplemental Security Income program into bank accounts that she controlled.

The Supplemental Security Income is a federal income supplement funded by taxpayers that primarily helps aged, blind and disabled people who have little to no income.

It provides money for these people to buy basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter.

Chavis is also accused of tricking employees at the SSA into manually processing unauthorized payments on SSI beneficiary accounts using the beneficiaries’ personal information and Chavis’ bank account information.

Chavis faces 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of theft of government property.

If convicted of all charges, Chavis could be imprisoned for up to 24 years. She also faces a minimum two-year consecutive term of imprisonment on each aggravated identity theft count.