PTSD Fakers need to be charged, not publicized

Here we go again! Another article came out about PTSD fakes abusing VA benefits. There are some people in the article who need to be charged and should face serious jail time. Does it happen? Sure it does but it is rare.

The truth is, too many don't go to the VA and that makes it worse when fakers do.

This article is on the Denver Post under "opinion" written by Mark McVay. It makes serious accusations against veterans. It is also harmful to real veterans suffering from PTSD. Normally I wouldn't bother with something like this but it is out of Colorado and there are far too many with PTSD avoiding getting help.

If you read it and you are upset understand that accusations like this have been around for decades. There is nothing new in it. If you have PTSD, get help to heal. If you want to stay away from the VA itself then at least go to the nearest Veterans Center for help without having to file a claim. You can also seek help with many of the groups in Colorado.

There are also members of Point Man International Ministries ready willing and able to help you heal.

Vietnam veteran charged with VA Fruad

Vietnam Veteran Charged with Falsely Claiming More Than $480,000 in Benefits
WBOY News
By Marisa Matyola, Producer
Updated: Jun 04, 2014

A Bridgeport man has been charged with falsely claiming his Veteran’s Administration (VA) disability benefits.

Thomas Cueto, 65, was charged with falsifying documents in order to enhance his benefits and fraudulently obtaining controlled substances from the VA. United States Attorney William J. Ithlenfeld, II said Cueto was indicted on one count of theft of government funds and nine counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud.

Cueto, who served in the U.S. Army from 1969, to 1972, including time spent in Vietnam, was awarded disability benefits in 1999 for service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder. Since 1999, Cueto has collected more than $480,000 in VA benefits. The indictment returned Tuesday alleges Cueto of falsely claiming, on his Report of Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States to have earned the following awards: a Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star with V-Device, Purple Heart and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and other misleading documents to show he was injured in combat.
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Founder of veterans' group, defrauded VA and is convicted felon

Veteran's group founder defrauded V.A. of $178,000
PHILLY.COM
Sam Wood
Friday, February 28, 2014

A Philadelphia man who claimed to be the founder of the non-profit Veterans Support Group of America, was sentenced to 30 months in prison this week for defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs out of $178,000 in healthcare and pension benefits.

Richard Gordon, 65, pretended to be his brother, “H.G.” who had served a tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam war. He assumed H.G.’s identity in 2004 because he was a fugitive from justice after being convicted of a felony in New Jersey.

Richard Gordon, would have qualified for VA benefits, because had spent one year in the U.S. Marines but had been discharged after claiming a family hardship. But fugitives are prohibited from receiving V.A. benefits, according to court papers.
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VA Travel claims drop after fraud arrests

Arrests bring drop in Seattle VA travel claims
By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
July 28, 2013

SEATTLE (AP) — A funny thing happened after federal authorities arrested several military veterans last year and accused them of lying about how far they drove to get to medical appointments at the Veterans Administration hospital in Seattle.

A bunch of others who didn't get busted stopped filing for so much money in mileage reimbursements, and the VA hospital began saving tens of thousands of dollars a month, officials say.

"We are taking this benefit-travel fraud seriously because of the amount of money that's going out the door," says James O'Neill, the VA's assistant inspector general for investigations. "When we can publicize the ramifications of committing this fraud and being prosecuted, we can really reduce it."

Ten people, including two VA clerks who admitted taking kickbacks, were charged in federal court in Seattle, and several are due to be sentenced this week. Others have already been given prison terms of up to two years.

Among the recent cases:

— 16 people were indicted in Cleveland last year and charged with stealing a combined $250,000 in fraudulent mileage reimbursements.

— A veteran in Maine pleaded guilty last September to charges of falsely claiming more than $17,000 in travel reimbursements.

—Last April, a veteran in Oklahoma City was sentenced to probation and ordered to return more than $36,000 in false mileage claims.
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Veteran accused of stealing from other veterans

This isn't about taking from a charity, which is bad enough, but this man is accused of taking money from veterans claiming he would help them with their claims.

Feds Charge Local Man With Defrauding Military Veterans
A Stafford Springs man was arrested on a charge that he defrauded veterans of their VA benefits.
Tolland Patch
Posted by Ronald DeRosa (Editor)
May 16, 2013

A 66-year-old Stafford Springs man is facing federal charges that he defrauded several U.S. military veterans thousands of dollars.

Vietnam veteran John J. Simon Jr., known as “Buzzy Simon,” was arrested on Wednesday on federal criminal complaint charging him with mail fraud.

According to a Justice Department news release, Simon is accused of representing to several veterans that he would assist them in obtaining or increasing their VA benefits.
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Six veterans plead guilty to Agent Orange benefits fraud

Six veterans plead guilty to Agent Orange benefits fraud
Scheme allegedly run by former high-ranking state benefits claim officer
By Kevin Rector
The Baltimore Sun
May 2, 2013

Six military veterans from Maryland pleaded guilty to fraud charges this week in a scheme to obtain federal military benefits and state tax breaks with faked documentation claiming they were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office.

The veterans allegedly paid thousands of dollars in cash to David Clark, the former deputy chief of veterans claims in the state Department of Veterans Affairs Office, in exchange for $1.4 million in fraudulent benefits and tax breaks, prosecutors said.

The veterans, some of whom never even served in Vietnam, are from multiple branches of the military, the indictment says.

Clark and two others have also been indicted in the scheme, which allegedly dates back to 1995.

Agent Orange, the indictment says, "refers to a blend of tactical herbicides the U.S. military sprayed in the jungles of Vietnam to remove trees and dense tropical foliage that provided enemy cover" during the 1960s and 1970s.
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Iowa man claimed to be war hero

Iowa man claimed to be war hero
Omaha.com
MARCH 16, 2013

DES MOINES (AP) — An Altoona, Iowa, man was sentenced to more than a year in prison for lying about his Army record so he could qualify for Veterans Affairs medical benefits.

Federal prosecutors said in documents filed as part of a sentencing hearing Thursday that Jeffrey Kepler, 53, of Altoona pleaded guilty in September to health care fraud.

Prosecutors said Kepler had submitted a falsified discharge form to the Veterans Affairs medical center in Des Moines in August 2007.

Court documents said Kepler portrayed himself on the form as an airborne ranger and a war hero who had been awarded numerous medals, including the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He claimed to have served in the Army between January 1977 and August 1979.

He said on the form that he had served as a covert operations specialist, and information about his military service could not be disclosed for security reasons.

Prosecutors said Kepler actually served only 27 days in the Army in 1986 and was discharged for not meeting medical fitness standards.
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Knox woman pleads guilty in scheme to fake husband's military service and PTSD claim

Knox woman pleads guilty in scheme to fake husband's military service for VA benefits
Sep 18, 2012
Written by
WBIR.com


A Knoxville woman has admitted to scamming the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration.

Martha Ann Kaczmarczyk, 62, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of stealing public money. Her husband, Charles Kaczmarczyk, a veteran, was also charged in the scheme where they lied about his military records to obtain benefits. He pleaded guilty in August.
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Command Sgt. Major charged with lying about service in Vietnam

Prosecutors: Soldier lied about Purple Hearts, military combat
By the CNN Wire Staff
Wed June 6, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
William John Roy is charged with defrauding the VA and the Department of Defense
An indictment accuses him of lying to obtain $57,000 in benefits
Prosecutors say Roy said he fought in Vietnam, receiving two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star
Investigation reveals he had been in Germany in a noncombat role, prosecutors say

(CNN) -- A U.S. Army command sergeant major who authorities accuse of lying about receiving Purple Hearts for bravery during combat and making false claims about fighting in Vietnam and Afghanistan was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday.

William John Roy, 57, is charged with seven felony counts of defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, prosecutors said.

The indictment accuses the Winchester, California, resident of using "bogus military documentation" in applications that allowed him to receive $27,000 in disability benefits for himself and $30,000 in educational benefits for his daughter.

"In the documents, Roy falsely claimed that in 1974 he served as a combat medic in Vietnam in a special forces unit and was twice injured in combat. With false records that purported to detail his bravery during combat incidents in Vietnam, Roy further claimed he was awarded two Purple Hearts, as well as a Bronze Star for valor," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said.

Prosecutors said that an investigation revealed Roy had been in Germany in a noncombat role during the time when he claimed to be fighting in Vietnam.
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also

Stolen Valor soldier indicted on federal charges

Navy Civilian Employee Accused Of Defrauding Navy and VA

Gardener Accused Of Defrauding Navy, VA

Leray Shurn Faces Fraud Charges, According To Federal Indictment
March 23, 2012

SAN DIEGO -- A Chula Vista gardener allegedly defrauded the Navy and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs out of $400,000 in workers' compensation claims and disability benefits, according to a federal indictment unsealed Friday.

Leray Shurn, 59, was compensated for claims that he suffered back and knee injuries as a Navy civilian employee, but hid the fact that he ran his business and performed some of the landscaping work himself, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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Veteran Pleads Guilty to Stealing $900,000 in Military Benefits

Veteran Pleads Guilty to Stealing $900,000 in Military Benefits
By The Associated Press
POSTED: 9:03 pm EST February 14, 2012


NEW BERN -- A Fayetteville man has pleaded guilty to scamming nearly $900,000 in military benefits by falsely claiming to have been injured while serving the country.
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Navy vet sentenced to 6 months for fraud against VA

At first, reading it was because he wanted to get medical coverage for his girlfriend and her kids, this didn't seem to be such a bad story. After all, it wasn't as if they were charging him with being a fake veteran or faking his disability. Then reading on, it was pointed out that medical coverage was not the only thing he wanted from the VA. He put in for travel he didn't take among other things. Just goes to show none of us should ever dismiss a news story as "no big deal" until we read all of it.

Navy vet sentenced to 6 months for fraud against VA

BILL NOVAK
The Capital Times
December 16, 2011

A Navy veteran from Madison has been sentenced to six months in prison after defrauding the Veterans Administration.

Sergio Guaderrama, 44, was sentenced in federal court in Madison on Thursday by Chief U.S. District Judge William Conley.

Guaderrama pleaded guilty to fraud charges in September.

According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Guaderrama submitted a false marriage certificate to the VA so his girlfriend and her children could receive medical care, and also submitted falsified mileage reimbursement forms to get money for travel he didn't take.
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Thinking of all the reports of veterans not getting claims approved when they deserve them to be, this should make everyone angry.

Veteran ordered to pay back government over false claim

Surfside Beach man ordered to pay around $500,000 back to federal government

A Surfside Beach man was sentenced in federal court on Thursday for theft of government funds.

Frank C. Vass, Jr., 56, of Surfside Beach, was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment and 5 years supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $483,532.25 in restitution to the Veterans Affairs Administration and to the Social Security Administration, according to the U.S attorney's office in Columbia.

Evidence presented at the hearing established that Frank filed false claims and lied to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs about his physical condition by claiming that he was only able to walk a few steps at a time and required to remain in a wheelchair all other times.


Read more: Surfside Beach man ordered to pay

Two Sentenced in $2 Million Scheme to Defraud Department of Veterans Affairs

I have a feeling that every other claims service officer with the DAV is cheering this. They are dedicated to making sure disabled veterans are taken care of and when someone decides the system is fair game, it is repulsive to them. They see the worst kind of suffering our veterans go through and they work very hard to help them with their claims as well as provide emotional support.

Department of Justice Press Release

For Immediate Release
May 17, 2010 United States Attorney's Office
Western District of Kentucky
Contact: (502) 582-5911
Two Sentenced in $2 Million Scheme to Defraud Department of Veterans Affairs

LOUISVILLE—Thomas Darrell Bryant, age 39, of LeRoy, West Virginia, and Joe Davis Snooks, Jr., age 62, of Roundhill, Kentucky, were each sentenced to one year and one day in prison, in United States District Court, Louisville, Kentucky, for participating in a scheme to defraud the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through the filing of fraudulent military disability claims, United States Attorney David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky announced today.

Jennifer B. Coffman, Judge, United States District Court, also sentenced Bryant and Snooks to three years’ supervised release following incarceration. There is no parole in the federal judicial system. In addition, restitution in the amount of $191,853.67 was imposed against Bryant, and restitution in the amount of $141,732 was imposed against Snooks.

Co-defendant Daniel Ryan Parker, who was sentenced to 68 months’ imprisonment in April, was the National Service Office Supervisor for the Disabled American Veterans Service Organization (DAV) in Louisville, Kentucky, and one of Parker’s responsibilities was to assist veterans in their pursuit of military related disability benefits. Co-defendant Jeffrey Allen McGill, who was also sentenced to 68 months’ imprisonment in April, was a Veteran Service Representative with the VA regional office in Louisville, Kentucky, and among other things McGill was responsible for reviewing and rating VA disability claims.

Parker and McGill admitted that between November 2003 and November 2008, they recruited friends, relatives, and acquaintances who were military veterans, including Bryant and Snooks, to file false and fraudulent disability claims with the VA. Parker and McGill either altered the veterans' medical records, or created counterfeit medical records, to give the appearance that the veterans had service related disabilities, resulting in the veterans receiving fraudulent disability benefits for alleged problems such as hearing loss, depression or cancer.

When the VA approves a disability claim, it pays benefits dating back to the original date the claim was received. In addition to falsifying medical records, Parker and McGill also admitted that they fraudulently backdated claims, resulting in large fraudulent lump sum retroactive disability payments, which in several instances were over $60,000. The veterans who participated in the scheme paid kickbacks to Parker and McGill, usually two-thirds of their lump sum payments. In return, the participating veterans kept the monthly tax free disability payments they would have received for the remainder of their lives. The scheme resulted in losses of nearly $2 million before it was discovered.

Co-defendants Dean Anthony Toth and Daniel Joseph Milliner have also pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Coffman in Louisville on July 17, 2010.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David R. Weiser and Robert Kilmartin, and it was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

I am a life member of the DAV Auxiliary because I believe in the work they do. My husband is also a life member of the DAV. We have close friends who are also members. One more point to make is that I was also elected the DAV Chapter 16 Auxiliary Chaplain for 2010-11. Yes, I'm bias because I know the majority of the people with the DAV are dedicated to disabled veterans and not to fakes and frauds manipulating the system. (I do not speak for the DAV or the Auxiliary, I speak only for myself. It would be great if a reporter would contact the DAV National Headquarters and find out what they think about all of this.)

Man Accused In VA Scheme Sues Government

Man Accused In VA Scheme Sues Government
Dean Toth Says He's Victim, Not Criminal
By Andy Alcock/WLKY
POSTED: 3:44 pm EST February 12, 2010


LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Crestwood man accused of taking part in a scheme to defraud the federal government out of nearly $2 million has filed a lawsuit against the federal government just days before his trial is to begin.

Dean Toth, 38, filed the lawsuit because he says he's a victim, not a criminal.

As WLKY first reported in November 2008, Toth was one of 14 people indicted by a federal grand jury.

According to court records, Daniel Parker, who worked for Disabled American Veterans, and Jeffrey McGill, who worked for the Veterans Administration, convinced 12 people to falsify medical records so they could get veterans benefits.
read more here
Man Accused In VA Scheme Sues Government

Did this VA disabled fraud have a conscience?

James Sebero managed to dishonor so many in one selfish act after another. First, the Air Force, then disabled veterans, then the sheriff offices across the nation, but above all, he further dishonored the 900,000 veterans with their claims in a backlog pile waiting to received what they really deserved, while he simply took what he wanted. Did he think of the Vietnam veterans that ended up homeless because they deserved to have their claims honored but never managed to get them approved? Or the ones who spent years feeling they didn't deserve any help from the government because others were more worthy? Or did he think of the newer veterans being turned away from the VA because there is no room to fit them in and they killed themselves? Did he think of any of them? Did he have a conscience at all while he took the money with his lies, passing himself off as lame, sitting in a wheel chair, only to get up and walk on his own two feet when the VA wasn't looking? Did he feel any quilt in the halls of the VA hospital as he wheeled himself past amputees or paralyzed veterans? Or when he was standing on his own two feet and saw a real disabled veteran struggling in a grocery store from his wheel chair trying to reach something on the shelf? Did he notice the widow counting every dime in line because her husband's claim was never approved before he died? Did he ever see the pain in a homeless veteran's eyes because they had PTSD, the government turned down their claim, their family turned their backs on him and he felt betrayed by the country he was wounded for serving? I doubt he saw anything but himself and his bank account with the checks giving him everything he wanted just for pretending to be something he could never be. No, not just a disabled veteran, but a man with a conscience.

Ex-airman says he wrongly took $1.5M from VA

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Apr 7, 2009 13:14:15 EDT

SPOKANE, Wash. — A former Idaho sheriff’s deputy who falsely claimed he was paraplegic has pleaded guilty in a $1.5 million disability fraud case that U.S. attorneys say could be the largest in Veterans Affairs Department history.

James M. Sebero, 59, of Laclede, Idaho, accepted an agreement with government lawyers and pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to wire fraud and making a false statement. He also agreed to forfeit personal assets and to pay $950,000 in restitution.

Sebero, a former Bonner County, Idaho, sheriff’s marine deputy, could face 20 years and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced July 10.

U.S. Attorney James A. McDevitt said it was the largest disability-compensation fraud case in VA history.

“By his actions, Mr. Sebero disgraced the system that compensates all those veterans who are truly disabled and who are fairly compensated for their injuries sustained in service to their country,” McDevitt said.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_VA_disability_fraud_040709/

Tampa woman gets jail over VA benefit fraud

This makes my blood boil! This is not a matter of a widow of a veteran fighting to have a claim honored but a woman with the nerve to take money from the VA after a widow had died. She had nothing to do with the disabled veteran that was willing to die for this country and nothing to do with the life of the wife at his side. She just must have decided that she didn't need to earn any of the money she was taking without a clue of what kind of price others paid. In a time when there are claims tied up in a backlog, claims denied and veterans suffer, here we have someone making a living off of the legacy of a veteran!

Woman Gets Prison For Veterans Benefits Fraud
TBO.com

Published: April 2, 2009

A Palmetto woman who pleaded guilty to cashing veterans benefit checks in the name of her boyfriend's dead mother was sentenced today to five months in prison and five months of house arrest.

Lynn Weber, 55, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew to pay $62,960 in restitution.

A woman named Eleanor Edwards was the intended recipient of the checks from the Veterans Administration Dependency and Indemnity Compensation program, which is paid to eligible surviving spouses of veterans who have not remarried, according to court documents.
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Woman Gets Prison For Veterans Benefits Fraud/

NJ official accused of falsifying military record

NJ official accused of falsifying military record
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
November 26, 2008
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ An official in the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has been accused of falsifying his veteran and government records in order to receive a tax exemption and medical benefits.

William Devereaux, the department's director of veterans programs, was arrested Monday, issued a summons and released. A court hearing has not yet been scheduled.

In announcing the arrest on Wednesday, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said the 63-year-old Laurel Springs resident invented a false history of combat heroism in the Vietnam War. The prosecutor's office said its investigation was prompted by information provided by the county Office of Veterans Affairs.

Prosecutors said Devereaux falsely claimed on military benefits forms for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that he served as a paratrooper and artilleryman during the war and was injured multiple times. He also claimed to have received medals including the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with "V" device.
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