The Justice Department issued the following statement.
A Jackson man was sentenced to serve one year and one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay over $402,000 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for perpetrating a wire fraud scheme to steal federal funds, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Breen with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General.
Anthony Kelley, 60, of Jackson, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Jackson.
Kelley owns Trendsetters Barber College in Jackson, Mississippi. Trendsetters was certified by the VA and Mississippi’s State Approving Agency to offer courses which would be covered by GI Bill benefits for veterans enrolled in the school’s programs. Beginning at least as early as October 2016 and continuing through March 2019, Kelley offered a Master Barber course that was not an accredited course of study approved by the state’s Board of Barber Examiners. Kelley fraudulently represented that this course was an approved course of study and as a result was allowed to collect GI Bill money from veterans enrolled in the program. At least two veterans were enrolled in the Master Barber program using their GI Bill benefits and, as a result, the VA made interstate wire transfers of federal funds to Kelley based on his fraudulent representations.
An information was filed against Kelley on April 22, 2021. Kelley pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud on May 20, 2021.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General investigated the case.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew W. Eichner.
13 comments:
Wasn’t Stacey Pickering in charge of making sure these institutions weren’t fraud mills? Asking for a friend
@5:53 - what's the matter, your friend cut your hair and you didn't like the result?
If you go to the barber and get a bad cut - hell, wait a couple of weeks and go to somebody else. Don't go back. No harm, no foul.
And no, for your friend's benefit of course - I don't think Stacey had anything to do with deciding who can defraud the federal VA out of dollars. His limits of authority stopped with screwing the state.
MS Code 35-1-7(3)
The State Veterans Affairs Board is designated as the "state approving agency" for the State of Mississippi. It shall be the duty of the State Veterans Affairs Board to inspect, approve and supervise schools, institutions and establishments for war orphan and veteran training as provided in Section 1771, Chapter 35, Title 38
This may be the most incompetent board in state government. Who are these people? Why can’t they do anything right?
@ 8:44 pm, NAILED IT!
@8:44
They are the kind of people who remained quiet while their former leader was having an affair with his deputy, in the VA office. And the same leadership who punished a housekeeper who was just doing her job as instructed, and accidentally walked in on the leaders mid-coitus.
They knew this was happening and also about the promotions that were given for the sex. But they had mortgages to pay so they kept their mouths shut and just did the best they could amidst all of the inclusion and degenerate behavior.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. A Federal entity not State. Again, please read the article, but slower this time.
The bootlick lampreys are always working.
@ 8:37 am
Read @8:44 pm but slower this time. Feds just had to clean up the mess
I bet he has already paid it back-
"...ordered to pay over $402,000 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs...
...two veterans were enrolled in the Master Barber program using their GI Bill benefits and, as a result, the VA made interstate wire transfers of federal funds..."
Who in the highholyhell is watching our fucking money?! $185 eggs, the welfare clusterfuck, and now, around $200,000 barber training classes. Admittedly, someone certainly learned how to give a pretty good haircutting. For 200 grand a vet, they could have gotten an undergrad and JD at Ole Miss. Granted, the barber school would have been a better education (and certainly been more useful and prestigious outside of MS), but still. Maybe someone ought to be looking at whoever did the wire transfer: "Lessee here...request for payment of $400,000 for 2 vets, 2 barber licenses...the paperwork seems in order, approved for payment."
"@ 8:44 pm, NAILED IT!"
Coincidentally, that's exactly what got Stacey shitcanned.
Everyone involved with the Department of Veterans Affairs seems to be crooks making money. The veterans themselves cannot even see a doctor. Something does not sound right.
The taxpayers got another stickering from fraudsters in Mississippi?
Say it ain't so Tater!
Let's prevent this type GI bill fraud in the future by appointing a former state auditor to ride herd on the State Veterans Affairs Board!
This time though maybe be sure they aren't either one of the bootlick lampreys or too friendly with any of them.
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