Veteran ordered to pay back thousands in VA benefits
WEAR 3 ABC News
by Auriette Lindsey
September 3rd 2019
PENSACOLA, Fla. (WEAR-TV) — A veteran from Santa Rosa County has been sentenced to three years probation and must pay thousands of dollars in restitution.
The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, Lawrence Keefe, announced the sentence on Tuesday.
46-year-old Bryan S. Gaines of Milton pleaded guilty to theft of government money and making false statements.
Between 2011 and 2018, he falsely reported to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that he was not working and unable to work.
He received disability benefits based on those claims.
A federal judge ordered Bryan Gaines of Milton to repay $243,243.05 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to making false statements. (Image: MGN)
Keefe said, "Stealing from the VA is tantamount to stealing from each of the brave men and women who have served our nation in times of war and times of peace."
Gaines was ordered to pay $243,243.05 in restitution.
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These 2 women are the first sisters ever to become Army generals
CNN
Mallory Hughes
September 7, 2019
(CNN)The US Army has plenty of famous examples of generals who were brothers. But sisters? Now that's another story.
Maj. Gen. Maria Barrett presenting Brig. Gen. Paula Lodi a beret with one-star rank insignia as a tribute to the history of women serving in the Army and the historic moment of sisters serving together as General Officers.
Maj. Gen. Maria Barrett and younger sister Brig. Gen. Paula Lodi became what the Army believes to be the first pair of sister generals.
Because women sometimes change their last names after marriage, the Army would have had to look at every single woman general, as well as their siblings, to compare names and determine if they were sisters.
An Army spokesperson told CNN that it wasn't possible to do that.
"But since there haven't been that many women generals, it's a safe bet that they're the first," the spokesperson said.
The military didn't start accepting women into its ranks until the Army Nursing Corps was established in 1901.
Maj. Gen. Barrett is the Commanding General of NETCOM. She graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations and was commissioned through the Army ROTC program as a Second Lieutenant in 1988.
Her younger sister, Brig. Gen. Lodi, was promoted in July and is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at the Office of the Surgeon General. She is a Distinguished Honor Graduate of the Naval War College and has master's degrees in public administration, military arts and science, and national security and strategic studies.
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If We Want to Address the Crisis of Veteran Suicide, We Must Acknowledge Its History
TIME
BY SIMON HAROLD WALKER
SEPTEMBER 6, 2019
This problem is not one limited to a single country or point in time, nor is its importance limited to awareness days like World Suicide Prevention Day on Sept. 10. Military suicide has occurred for centuries around the world but has most often been overlooked or ignored.
In 2018, 33-year-old American Marine veteran Justin Miller died by suicide in the parking lot of the very organization he had turned to for help. After four days in the Minneapolis Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital, Miller had been released and immediately took his own life. Between October 2017 and November 2018, 18 additional suicides were recorded on VA campuses around the country. As recently as Aug. 7, 2019, another veteran took his own life in a VA parking lot.
These types of deaths are not limited to the United States. In December of 2018, a public mass vigil in Britain remembered 70 Scottish veterans who died by suicide that year. This event formed part of a public protest at the lack of official care and support for veterans. In April of this year, debate within the House of Commons clarified that the official statistics that determined there had been 58 veteran suicides in 2018 had grievously underestimated the actual figure. Third-sector organizations, public groups and charities assured the British government that the figure was almost double the official statistics.
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Volunteers come out in force to work on disabled veteran's home
Village News
August 30, 2019
“They transported me to Landstuhl in Germany, where they actually called my mom and told her to fly out to Germany because they didn’t think I was going to make it,” Paulks said in a video from Homes for Our Troops. “They were hoping that they could get there to say goodbye.”
An unusually warm Saturday morning couldn’t stop more than 150 volunteers from showing up to work on the future home of a disabled U.S. Army veteran relocating to Fallbrook with the help of Homes for Our Troops.
The event is the second for the home build for Spc. Joseph Paulks, leading up to the key presentation ceremony, Saturday, Sept. 7.
The landscaping event was organized by Homes for Our Troops with the help of general contractor Youngren Construction.
“We as a company and also as a family are so appreciative to be a part of giving back to our veterans who have given so much,” Jennifer Youngren said. “Joey’s home will be the 23rd we’ve completed for Homes for Our Troops. We get to know each veteran throughout the build process but the best part for us is seeing them through the years afterward. It’s amazing to witness how each family has thrived because of the freedom this specially adapted home provides.”
Paulks was serving with the 546th Military Police Company as the lead driver of a Quick Reaction Force in southern Afghanistan in 2007, and while on a rescue mission, his convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device, causing the vehicle to flip over.
Though he was ejected from the vehicle, he was engulfed in flames. His unit quickly put the fire out with fire extinguishers as Paulks sustained severe burns. He was moved to the nearest U.S. facilities in Afghanistan, where doctors put him into a medically induced coma.
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FBI: Fraudster posing as petty officer helped fleece females for $2.1 million
By: Navy Times staff
September 6, 2019
A probable cause affidavit filed by Special Agent Dean J. DiPietro, a member of the FBI’s White Collar Crime squad in Atlantic City, estimates that Sarpong and the other three people netted at least $2.1 million in the scams over the past 3 ½ years.
Rubbin Sarpong never was a U.S. Navy petty officer stationed in Canada or Syria who needed a little cash to come home to his loved one.
Although one victim sent him $50,000 in a series of wire transfers dating back to early 2016, according to court documents, Sarpong really was laundering her money, stashing it in bank accounts or doling it out to co-conspirators on two continents to further what authorities say is an ongoing swindle that preys on lonely hearts with a crush on military men.
Federal prosecutors say that Rubbin Sarpong on March 2, 2017, posted a photograph of himself on social media accounts, holding a large stack of cash to his ear like a mobile phone, with a caption reading "WakeUp with 100K... OneTime. Making A phone Call To Let My Bank Know Am Coming;" (U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey)
Sarpong’s alleged scheme was outlined in a 27-page federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in Camden, New Jersey. It paints him as a grifter living in the south New Jersey town of Millville, with tentacles that reached out to at least 30 victims and three co-conspirators in the U.S. and the West African nation of Ghana.
Federal court records reveal that Sarpong was arrested Wednesday, a day after being charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
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VA Wrongly Denied Some Veterans' GI Bill Benefits, Judges Rule
Military.com
By Patricia Kime
5 Sep 2019
McHugh could not say how many veterans may be affected by the ruling but believes if a service member "served six years and three of those were Post-9/11, you should qualify for both, if you paid into the Montgomery GI Bill."
A panel of Department of Veterans Affairs judges has ruled in favor of a veteran who petitioned to receive full education benefits under both the Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI Bills, a decision that, if allowed to stand, could expand the payout for thousands of eligible veterans.
In a decision published last month, two of three judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled the department erred in denying a benefits claim filed by a former soldier with "split time," having served as an enlisted soldier and later returning to the service as an officer.
The veteran, identified as "BO" in the suit, served in the military during several distinct periods, from 2000 to 2002 as an enlisted soldier; from 2004 to 2005 as a member of the Army National Guard; and from 2007 to 2011 as a commissioned Army officer.
BO paid into the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) as an enlisted soldier and qualified for the maximum benefit through military service. He also was eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill through his service.
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