VA worker, 13 others charged in fraud scheme

[unhappycamper]

VA worker, 13 others charged in fraud scheme
By Brett Barrouquere - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 20, 2008 16:37:08 EST

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.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_vafraudscheme_112008/%2e