THREE ARRESTED FOR ROLES IN ALLEGED CONTRACTOR FRAUD SCHEME TARGETING DEPT. OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Three People Arrested in Puerto Rico in a Contractor Major Scheme to Defraud the U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs

On June 3, 2015, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a five count indictment charging Jose A. Rosa-Colon, his brother and business partner, Ivan Rosa-Colon and Louis Enrique Torres with a multi-million dollar Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.  The charges include major fraud against the United States and wire fraud.  This investigation was conducted by Special Agents from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division.

The indictment unsealed in federal court today alleges that from on or about 2007 to 2014, Ivan Rosa-Colon, Jose Rosa-Colon and Torres conspired to use Jose Rosa-Colon’s service-disabled veteran status to create BELKRO General Contractors, which was a pass- through or front company for Ivan Rosa-Colon’s other business, IRC Air Contractors.

The indictment alleges that Ivan Rosa-Colon and Louis Torres used Jose Rosa-Colon’s service-disabled veteran status to certify and register BELKRO General Contractors in various government databases as a SDVOSB after Ivan Rosa- Colon learned that President George W. Bush would be signing a government stimulus package encouraging the use of SDVOSB.  The stimulus package would allow for government agencies to award non-competitive, set-aside or sole-source government contracts to SDVOSB like BELKRO General Contractors.

The indictment further alleges that Jose Rosa-Colon, owner of BELKRO General Contractors, was employed as a full-time U.S. Postal Service Carrier; he was not in charge of the day to day operations of BELKRO General Contractors.  Jose Rosa-Colon was simply a figurehead or “rent-a-vet”, who was being used for his service-disabled veteran status to obtain contracts for his brother Ivan Rosa-Colon’s company.  As a result of the scheme, BELKRO General Contractors unlawfully received set-aside and/or sole-source SDVOSB contracts from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, including contracts involving American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

If convicted, they face a term of 20 years in prison as to each wire fraud charge and up to ten years in prison for the charges of major fraud against the United States.  Additionally, they face fines of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release as to each count.

This indictment was announced today by U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez for the District of Puerto Rico, Special Agent in Charge Monty Stokes for the Southeast Field Office, Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division and Acting Special Agent in Charge Sharon Johnson for the Eastern Regional Office, Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Diaz-Rex.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment constitutes only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

STUDY FINDS 15.7% OF OEF/OIF DEPLOYED VETERANS SCREENED POSITIVE FOR PTSD

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
PTSD in Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

PTSD is a significant public health problem in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) deployed and non-deployed Veterans and should not be considered an outcome solely related to deployment.
A study finds that 15.7% of OEF/OIF deployed Veterans screened positive for PTSD compared to 10.9% of non-deployed Veterans. Overall 13.5% of study participants screened positive for PTSD.

Researchers determined if Veterans screened positive for PTSD by looking at survey answers to the PTSD Checklist Civilian Version (PCL-C). The PCL-C is a screening instrument routinely used in VA.

PTSD Among Recent Veterans – Who Screens Positive?

The National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans is a health survey of 60,000 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Veterans, and non-deployed Veterans who served during the same time period. Researchers sent Veterans a survey which included questions that help VA health care providers screen Veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is the first study to report positive screens for PTSD in OEF/OIF-era Veterans who were not deployed and those who do not use VA health care.

Overall screening positive for PTSD: deployed Veterans, 15.7%; non-deployed Veterans, 10.9%. The overall percentage of study participants screening positive for PTSD was 13.5%

Screened positive by VA health care user status: deployed VA health care users, 24.7%; non-deployed VA health care users, 17.5%; deployed VA health care non-users, 9.8%; non-deployed VA health care non-users, 7.9%.
Screened positive by service branch: deployed Army Veterans, 18.6%; non-deployed Army Veterans, 13.8%; deployed Air Force Veterans, 6.6%; non-deployed Air Force Veterans, 6.2%; deployed Navy Veterans, 12.3%; non-deployed Navy Veterans, 10.1%; deployed Marine Corps Veterans, 20.6%; non-deployed Marine Corps Veterans, 10.5%.

Screened positive by unit component: deployed active duty, 18.5%; non-deployed active duty, 13.2%; deployed National Guard, 14.5%; non-deployed National Guard, 7.5%; deployed Reserves, 11.9%; non-deployed Reserves, 7.2%.
Screened positive by gender: deployed males, 16.2%; non-deployed males, 10.5%; deployed females, 12.5%; non-deployed females, 12.3%. Deployed males were 1.39 times more likely to screen positive for PTSD than deployed females. Among females, prevalence of a positive screen for PTSD was nearly equal among deployed and non-deployed Veterans.

Screened positive by race/ethnicity: deployed Hispanics, 19.7%; non-deployed Hispanics, 13.7%; deployed White non-Hispanic, 14.1%; non-deployed White non-Hispanic, 9.2%; deployed African American non-Hispanic, 21.9%; non-deployed African American non-Hispanic, 15.7%; deployed non-Hispanics other race, 16.2%; non-deployed non-Hispanics other race, 15.7%; deployed missing race/ethnicity, 23.5%; non-deployed missing race/ethnicity, 10.1%.

PTSD is a significant public health problem among OEF/OIF deployed and non-deployed Veterans and is not solely related to deployment.

These data are from the National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans.

Findings from the New Generation Study

The findings are from the National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans, a long-term study on the health of 30,000 OEF/OIF Veterans and 30,000 Veterans from the same era who were not deployed.

This is the first study to report positive screens for PTSD in OEF/OIF-era Veterans who were not deployed and those who do not use VA health care. Read the study abstract.

Health concerns?

Talk to your health care provider if you are concerned about PTSD. Effective treatments for PTSD exist.

Not enrolled in the VA health care system? Find out if you qualify. OEF, OIF, and Operation New Dawn combat Veterans are eligible for VA health care for five years after leaving the military. There are other ways to qualify too, including by having a service-connected disability.

Sources

Bliese PD, Wright KM, Adler AB, Cabrera O, Castro CA, Hoge CW.  Validating the primary care posttraumatic stress disorder screen and the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist with soldiers returning from combat. J Consult Clin Psychol 2008; 76: 272-281.

FORMER EMPLOYEE OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR WIRE FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Scheme Affected U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mortgage Guarantee Program

WASHINGTON — A former residential sales manager of a Florida property management company was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison today in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, in Orlando, for his participation in a wire fraud scheme involving housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Justice announced.

Ryan J. Piana pleaded guilty on July 16, 2013, to two wire fraud counts of a 10-count indictment. In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. also sentenced Piana to pay $147,285 in restitution to the VA.

The indictment, originally filed in January 2012, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in Rockford, charged Piana, Ronald B. Hurst and Bryant A. Carbonell with conspiring to commit bribery and wire fraud from beginning at least as early as January 2006 continuing until as late as September 2007.  Piana, Hurst and Carbonell were also charged with bribery and wire fraud.  As part of the plea agreement, the United States agreed to dismiss the remaining counts against Piana at the time of his sentencing.

“Steering contracts to a company in return for kickbacks distorts the competitive process and harms consumers,” said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “The Antitrust Division will not tolerate anticompetitive activity that defrauds the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

Piana is a former residential sales manager at West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, and Hurst and Carbonell are former contractors for Ocwen.  According to court documents, Ocwen managed foreclosed properties under contract with the VA, which guaranteed qualifying residential mortgages for veterans.  Under the contract between the VA and Ocwen, if a veteran defaulted, Ocwen completed necessary repairs and re-sold the property.  Proceeds from the re-sale of VA-acquired properties directly benefit the VA by reducing the cost of guaranteeing residential mortgages to veterans.

According to the charges, Hurst and Carbonell paid Piana to steer housing repair work to companies affiliated with Hurst and Carbonell.  Piana recruited other Ocwen employees into the scheme and paid them on behalf of himself and the other conspirators.  The department said in order to execute the scheme, the conspirators sent, or caused to be sent, various transmissions via wire communication.

Carbonell pleaded guilty to the wire fraud counts on Sept. 21, 2012.  Hurst pleaded guilty to the same counts on Feb. 15, 2013.  Both Hurst and Carbonell entered their guilty pleas in the U.S. District Court in Rockford. Their sentencing dates are scheduled for Dec. 5 and 6, 2013, respectively.

This is the third case involving properties managed by Ocwen under contract with the VA. On Dec. 3, 2010, Benjamin K. Graves, also a former Ocwen employee, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Orlando to wire fraud in connection with the VA contract.  On Jan. 25, 2012, Joshua R. Nusbaum, another a former Ocwen employee, and Andrew J. Nusbaum, a former Ocwen contractor, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Orlando to wire fraud in connection with the same VA contract.

The sentence announced today resulted from an ongoing federal investigation of housing repair contracts performed under contract with the VA.  The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the Central Field Office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division, located in Hines, Ill. 

VA AND DEFENSE SECRETARIES WANT INTEGRATED SUPPORT SYSTEM

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, right, holds a joint press conference with Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki at the Veterans Affairs Building in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2012. Panetta and Shinseki met before the press conference to discuss ways to help facilitate veteran disability claims and other issues. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Secretaries Seek Integrated Military, Veteran Support System
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2012 - The secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs are partnering to build an integrated military and veteran support system, Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta said at a joint DOD-VA press conference at the Veterans Affairs Department here today.

Calling their departments' collaboration "a national security issue in many ways," Panetta said the agreements between DOD and VA "go to the heart of taking care of the people who fight for us, and ensure that we can recruit the very best force possible."

He added that if service members, veterans and their families are to get the kind of "seamless experience they deserve," the jobs of the secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs are to "make clear that there has got to be good cooperation" at all levels.

"Our close partnership has never been more important than it is today," Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said of his meeting with Panetta.

Based on guidance from President Barack Obama, the two departments are working on a revamped Transition Assistance Program, a joint electronic medical records system, joint acquisitions decisions, better access to mental health programs, and disability claims, among other issues, the secretaries said.

"Today, our veterans wait too long for the benefits they deserve and that's why, together, we're streamlining our processes ... between our departments," Shinseki said.

Overall, the DOD and VA collaboration for building an integrated support system is not about turf, but about serving the nation's veterans.

"I'm very encouraged that the level of collaboration between our two departments is better than it ever has been in the past," Panetta said.

"Yet we still have to reach much deeper," he said. "We owe it to [service members and veterans] to give them the tools to put their lives back together and pursue their goals, whether it's getting a good education, the best health care, excelling in a new career, serving in our government, or starting a business.

"Today, we discussed a number of steps to try to get our departments to work together in a further enhanced DOD-VA collaboration," Panetta continued. "In particular, our discussion focused on a redesigned Transition Assistance Program. The VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 mandated that all service members participate in TAP to prepare them for life after the military."

Shinseki said his department's support of DOD's revamped TAP, a presidential initiative, will create a "seamless and productive program that provides a warm hand-off from service member to new veteran status, to ensure all who have served are prepared to transition to civilian life and have access to the VA benefits and services they've earned."

Panetta said the new TAP is progressing well.

"We've got a large number of individuals in the military, and as we transition in these next few years in terms of our force structure we will have a lot of people going into this system," the defense secretary said. "I'm delighted to report we are very satisfied with the requirements of the VOW Act having been fully tested in terms of effectiveness at all 206 installations [it] is ready to go. We're on track to implement additional tracks for service members interested in education, technical training and entrepreneurship by October 2013."

Disability claims will also become more streamlined as the two departments work together, Panetta said.

"DOD has agreed in principle to conduct more detailed exit physicals for departing service members who are not immediately filing a VA disability claim," he said. "That helps expedite the process so that we don't have to go far back to their past to try to determine whether that claim is valid or not."

With this information sharing, VA will have the health information it needs from DOD to more quickly process a claim, Panetta explained.

"Today, Secretary Shinseki and I agreed to develop a joint DOD-VA plan for accelerating the program to try to integrate our health care systems. We want to meet or beat the schedule we've established as targets," the defense secretary said. "We've asked for the plan to be presented to us by early January. We've got to do everything we can to move this on a more expeditious path."

Improved mental health service access is expected to be presented to the president as a joint recommendation by the two departments by the end of February 2013, he said.

Panetta expressed his concern over the rate of suicide among military members and veterans.

"It's a terrible challenge that we are dealing with, and we have got to do everything we can between DOD and the VA to ensure our systems are equipped to give our people the help they need to deal with these unique circumstances," he said.

Panetta applauded the work of health care professionals who treat service members, veterans and families, and also recognized warfighters.

"America's men and women in uniform put their lives on the line every day to keep this country safe. We owe it to those who fight for us to fight for them," the defense secretary said. "Programs to help our warriors were developed out of the best intentions but too often they fall victim to red tape, bureaucracy and intransigence.

"We, as secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs, deeply believe that we can and we will do better," he continued, "and we will accept nothing less than the best services that we can provide for those who serve this country."

VA SAYS PATIENT CARE ENHANCED THROUGH EXPANDING PRESCRIPTION SERVICES

FROM: DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
August 17, 2012
WASHINGTON – Nearly 250,000 patients served by the Indian Health Service (IHS) have utilized a prescription service available through an interagency agreement between IHS and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Federal partners such as IHS are invaluable in VA’s commitment to collaborating and expanding award-winning services that enhance patient care," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "This agreement reflects VA’s pledge to be an effective steward of Federal resources and ensure that countless Veterans and patients of IHS receive the best health care possible."

The agreement allows IHS pharmacies to use the VA Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP) to process and mail prescription refills for IHS patients. By accessing the service, IHS patients can now have their prescriptions mailed to them, in many cases eliminating the need to pick them up at an IHS pharmacy.

"The use of VA’s CMOP saves IHS patients travel time and wait time at the pharmacy, and allows IHS pharmacists to focus more attention on patient care," said Kenneth Siehr, Director of the VA CMOP program.

The service provides an alternative method for patients to obtain medication refills when transportation or work schedules make visiting a pharmacy difficult. Due to the agreement, pharmacists have been able to spend more time in clinics interacting with patients and answering questions.

"As a result of our partnership with VA and our use of CMOP, we’ve seen advances in our patient care and satisfaction," said Randy Grinnell, Deputy Director for IHS.

VA has successfully utilized CMOP since 1994 and currently processes over 111 million prescriptions annually. In 2011, the program earned distinction as a Customer Service Champion from JD Power and Associates.

Eleven IHS sites currently use VA CMOP: Haskell, Kan.; Phoenix; Rapid City, S.D.; Yakima, Wash.; and Claremore, Clinton, El Reno, Lawton, Pawhuska, Pawnee and Watonga in Oklahoma.

VA operates the largest integrated health care system in the country. With a health care budget of more than $50 billion, VA expects to provide care to 6.1 million patients supporting 920,000 hospitalizations and nearly 80 million outpatient visits this year. VA’s health care network includes 152 major medical centers and more than 800 community-based outpatient clinics.