VA workers charged with fraud lowest of lows

First when you read the headline it appears that veterans are to blame here but when you read the story, it is a limited number of employees and service officers involved. These people are the lowest of lows. Not just because they thought they could take money from the VA, but because they ended up hurting veterans with legitimate claims. The very people these leaches were supposed to be helping.

Can we really wonder why it is so many veterans never file claims? Can we really wonder why so many don't trust the VA? These actions matter to them. Their real claims are tied up as they are suffering physically, emotionally and financially waiting for their claims and their service to be honored while people like this decide the others can just suffer. Do you understand what kind of time a scam like this takes? Imagine if they had been spending time taking care of real wounded veterans instead of themselves! These people are the lowest of lows and not fit to ever stand next to a real disabled veteran. They just dragged the VA and the DAV reputations down with them.

Probe Finds VA Vulnerable to Fraud
Review in Wake of Case at Ky. Office Detects Security Lapses

By Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 9, 2009

An investigation in the wake of a major fraud case involving the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Louisville has found that other VA offices around the country suffer security shortfalls that leave them vulnerable to the same type of alleged fraud.

The review by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General found no similar allegations of fraud, but its report warns that gaps in VA's internal controls mean that "opportunities exist . . . to generate fraudulent large benefits payments."

A VA spokeswoman said yesterday that the department has taken actions to correct the problems. "VA has implemented safeguards to protect the integrity of benefit payments and actively monitors our payment processes for compliance," said Katie Roberts, press secretary for VA. "We remain committed to taking all actions necessary to eliminate the potential for fraud and ensure our veterans receive every benefit to which they are entitled."

In November, acting after an investigation based on a tip from a confidential source, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Kentucky indicted 14 people in connection with a scheme to defraud VA by submitting altered or counterfeit medical records.

The government accused Jeffrey Allan McGill, a former veteran service representative at the Louisville VA office, of working with co-conspirators, including 11 veterans, to submit fraudulent claims for military-related disabilities. McGill and co-defendant Daniel Ryan Parker, a former officer with the Disabled American Veterans service organization, are accused of falsifying documents to ensure that those claims were approved.

Five of the defendants have pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the case. The remaining defendants, including McGill and Parker, have pleaded not guilty and are set to go to trial in September, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Louisville.

"These results mean we can say with 90 percent confidence that this particular type of fraud is unlikely to be occurring at the VAROs selected for review during the sampled period," said the IG report, which was released June 30.
read more here
Probe Finds VA Vulnerable to Fraud