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VETERAN CHARGED WITH FRAUD FOR CONCOCTING
MILITARY CAREER TO GET VA BENEFITS -- Not only
did he lie about his military service, federal
prosecutors
say, but he also claimed to have received
medals
and decorations that were never awarded to him.
For more on phony vets and wannabes, use the VA Watchdog search
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Story here...
http://www.roanoke
.com/news/roanoke/wb/134655
Story below:
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Former soldier accused of lies
The ex-serviceman was indicted on fraud counts
over claims he fought and was wounded.
By Laurence Hammack
laurence.hammack@roanoke.com 981-3239
A former Army serviceman was charged Thursday with concocting a
fictitious military career -- claiming tours in Iraq and Afghanistan
during which he was wounded and saw fellow soldiers killed -- to obtain
$18,000 in veteran benefits.
Randall A. Moneymaker was indicted by a federal grand jury in Roanoke on
seven counts of fraud.
Not only did Moneymaker lie about his military service, federal
prosecutors say, but he also claimed to have received medals and
decorations that were never awarded to him.
"In light of the sacrifices our servicemen and women are making
overseas, it's important to prosecute those individuals who claim to
have done things that they haven't," Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig
"Jake" Jacobsen said.
"Because it's a disservice to those who have."
One charge against Moneymaker was brought under the Stolen Valor Act, a
law passed by Congress last year to crack down on a growing number of
fake military heroes in the United States.
While previous law made it illegal to falsely claim a Presidential Medal
of Honor, the Stolen Valor Act broadened the law to include other medals
and decorations authorized by Congress.
The indictment does not say which honors Moneymaker is charged with
lying about; Jacobsen declined to comment in detail about the case.
C.J. Covati, a Roanoke attorney who represents Moneymaker, also declined
to comment.
A former Roanoke resident who now lives in North Carolina, Moneymaker,
43, is charged with making a number of false statements to the
Department of Veterans Affairs in Salem between October 2005 and
November 2006.
Moneymaker served about two years in the Army as a private in the 1980s
but was never sent overseas, authorities said.
But in paperwork he filed for veteran disability and retirement
payments, Moneymaker claimed to have served in the Army from 1985 to
2002 and to have suffered injuries as a result of "combat operations,"
the indictment states.
Moneymaker said he suffers post-traumatic stress disorder from his
experiences, which included being involved in firefights and grenade
attacks, witnessing "fellow soldiers and civilians killed or wounded in
combat," and being wounded himself by a shell fragment -- all claims
that are false, the indictment charges.
Moneymaker received $18,449.32 in disability payments before the scam
was discovered, according to the indictment.
If convicted on all charges in U.S. District Court in Roanoke,
Moneymaker would face a maximum sentence of 35½ years in prison and a
fine of $1.5 million.
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Larry Scott --
