2 VA Employees Charged With Stealing Gov. Money for Spending Spree
NBC 7 News San Diego
By Bridget Naso
Jul 11, 2018
"VASDHS leadership has been cooperating with the Office of Inspector General on this investigation since 2013. Now that the investigation is complete, we are pursuing appropriate personnel actions.
Two San Diego Veterans Administration employees have been charged in federal court for using government money to buy luxury items for themselves, others and to sell online.
The spending spree started in 2013, according to court documents. Some of the items included large screen televisions, home theater systems, computers and sporting goods.
Nicholas Pilchak, assistant U.S. attorney said, “The indictment alleges over $23,000 in specific property that Mr. Soleimani misappropriated.”
Shawn Soleimani worked as a Social Service Assistant at the VA's Aspire Center. The Aspire Center is run by the San Diego VA Medical Center. It is a shelter with services for homeless veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Sergeant Galvan dies three days before wedding
23 ABC News Bakersfield
Emma Lockhart
Jul 12, 2018
His death happened just three days before his wedding. He leaves behind his fianceé and unborn child.
BAKERSFIELD, CA - It was a day of honor at Hillcrest Memorial Park, where Sergeant George Daniel Galvan was laid to rest Thursday morning.
Friends, family and community members celebrated the life of the 23-year-old Marine from Bakersfield. Galvan died from a car crash on June 30th, 2018 near Camp Pendleton where he was stationed.
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1st FDNY battalion chief to enter the north tower on 9/11 is retiring
ABC News
By ENJOLI FRANCIS, ERIC NOLL ESTHER CASTILLEJO
Jul 11, 2018
"We looked at each other, wondering if we were both going to be OK. And then I gave him the same orders as the other officers," he said. "That was the last time I saw my brother Kevin."
Joe Pfeifer, right, is retiring from the New York Fire Department after 37 years of service.
After nearly 37 years on the job, Joe Pfeifer, the first battalion fire chief to enter the north tower on Sept. 11, 2001, will be retiring.
He told ABC News on Wednesday that Sept. 11, 2001, had started as a beautiful summer day. He was answering routine calls as a documentary crew followed along. He said they heard a plane noisily fly overhead. They then watched as it hit the World Trade Center.
"In that moment, I knew I was going to the largest incident of my life, the largest fire I've ever seen. And, I also knew that thousands of people were in need," Pfeifer told ABC News.
That summer day with its bright, blue skies quickly turned to darkness.
"Matter of fact, after the collapse, you couldn't even see a hand in front of your face," he said.
He was the first battalion fire chief to arrive and enter the north tower on Sept. 11. When he got there, he said, he heard there was a fire above the 78th floor so he ordered teams to go in and evacuate. One of those firefighters was his brother Lt. Kevin Pfeifer.
"We looked at each other, wondering if we were both going to be OK. And then I gave him the same orders as the other officers," he said. "That was the last time I saw my brother Kevin."
He said his brother's memory motivated him to continue.
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UPDATE 7/31/2018
FORT STEWART, Ga. — Authorities are offering up to $20,000 in reward money for tips that help solve the slaying of a woman at a military base in Georgia.
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Wife of deployed soldier found dead on Army post, suspect at large
WSAV
Darius Johnson
Updated: Jul 12, 2018
FORT STEWART, Ga. (WSAV) -- A statewide manhunt underway after the wife of a deployed soldier was found dead inside her home on Fort Stewart in Georgia.
Fort Stewart Public Affairs officials say the woman, whose identity has not yet been released, was found dead inside her home on base Tuesday night.
This comes after military police were called that morning by one of her relatives to check on her. Her husband is currently deployed.
"It's hard to believe. And it makes you worry if there is going to be more incidents,” says long-time Hinesville resident Jodee Adams. “Is this an isolated situation. Were their children in the home. It's very concerning the fact that they don't know who it was and its at-large now. "
Many on the base of Fort Stewart were surprised to hear Special Agents with the U.S. Criminal Investigation Command were investigating a homicide on base.read more here
Pensacola man pleads guilty in VA theft case
North West Florida Daily News
By staff reports
Posted Jul 11, 2018
Additionally, Kohl received health care treatment and benefits totaling more than $45,000, and he also was able to stay in a VA vision rehabilitation facility at a cost of more than $63,000, according to court records.
PENSACOLA — An elderly Pensacola man who fraudulently claimed to have served with the Marines in the Korean War has pleaded guilty to theft of government funds by filing false benefit claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Between February 2005 and February 2018, 83-year-old Richard E. Kohl received VA benefit payments and services totaling nearly $220,000, according to a news release from the office of Christopher P. Canova, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
Documents introduced at the time of the guilty plea indicated that at some point prior to July 3, 1996, Kohl created and signed a fictitious Form DD-214, a certificate of release or discharge from military service. The faked DD-214 claimed that Kohl served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War and was discharged on Dec. 20, 1961.
Kohl never served in any branch of the U.S. military, but used the falsified Form DD-214 as proof of military service to obtain veterans’ benefits he was not entitled to receive. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 19.
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