VA Worker, 13 Others Charged in Fraud Scheme
(Comments at the end of articles)
"They're all veterans," U.S. Attorney David Huber said at a news conference Thursday. "That’s what's sad about all of this."
By Brett Barrouquere - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 20, 2008 16:37:08 EST
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_vafraudscheme_112008/
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A Veterans Administration employee and 13 other people have been charged with conspiring to steal nearly $2 million in disability claims.
Veterans Affairs service representative Jeffrey Allan McGill and Daniel Ryan Parker, a veteran and officer with the Disabled American Veterans, were among the 14 charged Wednesday by a federal grand jury with conspiring to defraud the U.S. of $1.9 million through the submission of false veterans disability claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The indictment outlines an alleged scheme for veterans to falsely claim to have suffered from bipolar disorder, hearing loss, frostbite, back injuries and other ailments and disabilities.
The indictment says veterans received lump-sum payments for back pay and then kick backed as much as two-thirds of it to Parker and McGill.
"They're all veterans," U.S. Attorney David Huber said at a news conference Thursday. "That’s what's sad about all of this."
Parker, 37, of Crestwood, is free on $25,000 bond. He is also charged with stealing $47,000 from Disabled American Veterans. His attorney, Brian Butler of Louisville, said his client plans to plead not guilty.
"We've been aware of the investigation for months and have cooperated with investigators," Butler said.
A phone message left for McGill, 37, was not immediately returned Thursday morning.
Huber said the remaining defendants, who live in Kentucky, Illinois and West Virginia, would voluntarily surrender at arraignment on Dec. 16 in Louisville.
Huber said Parker and McGill received between $500,000 and $600,000 in kickbacks, with the rest of the stolen money being split among the participants.
According to the indictment, starting in 2003 and continuing until this month, Parker and McGill recruited friends, relatives and acquaintances who were military veterans to file fraudulent claims with the VA.
Parker and McGill then allegedly either altered the veterans' medical records, or created counterfeit medical records, to give the appearance that the veterans had service related disabilities.
That resulted in the veterans receiving 100 percent disability for problems such as depression or cancer due to Agent Orange exposure during combat in Vietnam, according to the indictment.
Huber said the case came to light after a tip from a confidential source. He declined to discuss how the source knew about the alleged plot.
"But for that confidential source, this case may not have been known for some time, if at all," Huber said.
Michael Keen, the resident agent in charge for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Louisville, said the scheme could hurt veterans who needed the funds allegedly purloined.
"Obviously, the Department of Veterans Affairs doesn't have a bottomless pit of money," Keen said.
Huber said prosecutors will try to recoup the money taken during the scheme.
VETERANS RESOURCES NETWORK
http://www.valaw.org
Dear Readers,
Above is an article about how some veterans in conspiracy with a VA official and a DAV (Disabled American Veterans) service officer defrauded the VA of over 1.9 million dollars.
Those who defraud the VA are crooks and deserve a long time in prison. They are endangering the VA benefits system for all honest veterans and others who depend on VA benefits.
The Congress and the American people even in good financial times look for ways to cut veterans benefits, and how much more in bad times will they use this type of story as evidence that veterans are untrustworthy bums on the National dole.
You and I as honest veterans need to report any person who is defrauding the VA system and any service representative, VA official or attorney who ask for money under the table.
Sincerely.
Ray B Davis, Jr
http://www.valaw.org
Comments
I have listed several instances of VA worker fraud over the years in the 10's of millions of dollars that did not involve anyone but the VA workers themselves including a Congressional liaison. With the exception the possibility of it being reported in the local paper on page 89 b section xxx no one even knew it. My own infamous band of VA workers here in Atlanta stole over 5 million from the widows and orphans fund. Yet, they were only prosecuted because of mail fraud. VA workers approving each other’s increases in disability outside of protocol is another one you will not hear about. Telling Vets and Widows their files are being worked then when investigated found many claims had been sitting for five years with no one even touching them.
This was not only at local shops but as high as the BVA. I wonder what that Admiral would say now. We just need more training maybe????? This has been the excuse over and over and over again for decades by VA to fix the system. It has been either that or we are working sooooo hard to get our fix all magical mystery tour computer system up and running. The first one did not work so we tried software patches and that did not work so we got billions more to do another system that is now outdated or we just cannot seemed to get it working correctly. We just need a little more time until all the Vietnam/Herbicide Veterans are dead then we will get it working. Lord knows we not want the world to really know the empirical data on all of these fellows and how we have lied and denied. I wonder if the GAO has any idea how much VA has spent over the last 25 years on nothing but VA boondoggles such as this computer system.
More and more training as an excuse for not only such poor performance that no other agency can came close to matching but an entire system inherently internally designed and committed to fraud, deceit, and reward for those actions as we have seen recently in shedder gate by using criminal actions at every VA RO and even within the Remand Center itself.
The whole VA system needs to thrown in the garbage and let someone in the civilian world that actually can be held legally accountable for performance and the actions as it applies to legal matters take over most of the functions of this federal agency. As long as VA remains omnipotent granted by congress and our supreme court they will do whatever is necessary for their real agenda not what is advertised.
Let us not forget the circle of deceit and fraud used against the Veterans/Widows. VA contracts with IOM for recommendations, IOM gets a majority of its yearly money from DoD. Lets see who is the real culprit the government is trying to protect besides the chemical companies, of course the DoD. Is the DoD now bartering for the scientific recommendations they want to protect their budget also and to minimize the now known death and destruction they committed? Would this even be allowed in the real world without a real legal challenge in court by the stakeholders with the real evidence and standards for associations? You bet it would not be allowed. That assumes integrity beyond reproach and that, as a legal definition without a challenge is nothing but legal hypocrisy and affront to any legal system and victims rights.
But as the article points out this will probably get more publicity because Veterans were involved. None of the others from the VA office workers such as Atlanta and St. Louis as an example with their schemes and successes at robbing millions does not even warrant a local newspaper back page notation.
Since we are on the subject of fraud.
If you find something scientifically that you do not publish, print, or disclose as your task was to do so and that you knowingly has an impact on someone receiving earned benefits from the US Government…IS THAT NOT FRAUD. The government paid you to do a task so that according to Congress decisions could be made on health care and compensations and on behalf of entities of that same government you did not disclose what you found; IS THAT NOT BEING GUILTY OF FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY IN ORDER TO DENY A CLAIM x thousands?
I see little difference here except the US Government using the VA is out to defraud thousands of Veterans and Widows of billions of dollars in health care and compensations, both disability and death.
See the charges of federal study violations from last post at: http://www.2ndbattalion94thartillery.com/Chas/VAWorkers.htm
PURPOSEFUL EXCLUSION:….
RESEARCH INTEGRITY ISSUES:….
Where is our legal system in charging criminal activity in attempt to defraud the United States Veteran/Widow? Where are the VAlaw.org lawyers? Where is U.S. Attorney David Huber in this known fraudulent activity of our own government violation of science integrity rules? MIA all of them including the Attorney General. How convenient that this hoax of a constitutional justice system (Guaranteed Justice for All) does not apply to citizens who served in the Military. Yet the marquee does not advertise the exceptions to that marquee. Veterans/Widows do not bother to apply for constitutional justice. Your set aside justice, such as it is, its dealt out by the hands of the Secretary of the VA and your lack of congressional actions and you have for all intentional purposes no legal rights in the matter.
Two wrongs do not make a right but if we are going to charge fraud as a crime then it should be charged equally and not one sided.
Also I would like to know how many of those Veterans involved actually had cancers that if not for “VA fraud” would have been automatically associated with “Service Connection”. If not for government fraud would never been in that position. Not defending because one always has a choice but it would be certainly objective to at least get the real facts of the possibilities of what these men faced.
But I will guarantee you this; if any of them did, you will not hear the real facts about fraud by the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the jury over at IOM that denied them their earned rights to be Service Connected based on pure fraud and known intentionally published erroneous study results and findings in order to deny Veterans compensations and health care.
Kelley
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Kelley's thoughts on the recent fraud charges against VA employees and vets
