Thursday, May 25, 2023

Couple Pleads Guilty to $2 Million V.A. Fraud

 The Justice Department issued the following statement. 

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JAMES “JAY” SINYARD, age 61, and MARY “GIGI” SINYARD, age 58, have each pled guilty in federal court relating to their roles in a wire fraud  scheme to defraud the Department of Veterans Affairs.

JAMES SINYARD and MARY SINYARD pled guilty on May 18, 2023 before Chief U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown to a one count bill of information charging them with wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

According to the bill of information, VetAttend of Jackson was located in Jackson, Mississippi.  Beginning on or about April 2013 and continuing until at least December 2020, the SINYARDS did knowingly devise a scheme to defraud the Department of Veterans Affairs by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, by creating false affidavits claiming services had been provided by VetAttend to veterans in need of home aid and attendance.

To effectuate this scheme, the SINYARDs submitted over one hundred applications for veterans and/or their surviving spouses to the Department of Veterans Affairs, falsely indicating that VetAttend of Jackson was already providing services to these veterans. As a result of these fictitious affidavits, from approximately August 2014 to approximately December 2020, the VA issued funds to over 70 veterans and/or their surviving spouses from whom VetAttend of Jackson misappropriated approximately $2,136,329.68 in fraudulent funds relating to the false affidavits of services provided. 


“Today’s guilty plea sends a clear message to those who would exploit veterans to commit fraud that they will be investigated and held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Kris Raper with the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s South-Central Field Office.  

The Court set sentencing of JAMES SINYARD and MARY SINYARD for September 28, 2023.

Each defendant faces a possible maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years, up to a $250,000 fine, up to three (3) years supervised release, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee .

The U.S. Attorney’s Office praised the work of the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General.

The prosecution of the case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kathryn McHugh, Financial Crimes Unit.


17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder why this went on for so long (almost nine years) before the fraud was discovered.

Taze them 80 times said...

They live in Brandon. Hopefully their home on 4-acres will be seized. Stealing from veterans. Classy.

Anonymous said...

just think, if we didn't have all these welfare money tho hand out to people , there wouldn't be anything for the fraudsters to steal.

Anonymous said...

Put their useless oxygen consuming asses away for a long time.

Anonymous said...

They both need to do some serious time.

Anonymous said...

betcha dollars to donuts the feds knew about this for years and did nothing. they "get around to it" when they can. poor overworked souls

Anonymous said...

http://www.graceprohomecare.com/meet-our-team

Anonymous said...

They need to spend the rest of their lives in prison. And, some heads need to roll at the VA for not verifying by at least random audits. Another example as to how lax government employees are with taxpayer's money.

Anonymous said...

@ 8:42 -- It probably took a couple years to detect the fraud and then you can bet the Feds make sure all their ducks are in a row before dropping the hammer!

PittPanther said...

The dollar amount that was allowed to accrue, and the fact that there are no pics of these felons, says they must be white.

Never change, Mississippi.

Anonymous said...

The amount of fraud in the VA disability system is mind boggling. As a 30+ year retired veteran, I'm all for taking care of combat injured vets, but the vast majority of those filing for benefits have never sniffed combat, nor endured much hardship. There are entire FB pages dedicated to getting folks approved for VA disability benefits. It's much worse than welfare, worker's comp or social security disability fraud.

Anonymous said...

4:42 PM
Agree 100%

It's like everyone who was in the military during Vietnam except those in Vietnam got PSTD.

Kingfish said...

Or maybe you knucklehead, they were prosecuted in New Orleans and there were no available mug shots. Mug shots are not public records.

Anonymous said...

Steal 2 million and pay back $250,000? Also, why put off sentencing?

Anonymous said...

Mug shots are not public? You may want to check your facts.

Kingfish said...

Why don't you go check the Ethics Commission website. There are opinions on point.

Anonymous said...

Please stiffen the prison terms for this type of crime. The federal government gets robbed more than Walgreens in San Francisco and the perps usually do very little time.



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