Leaders addressed a Washington Post investigation about fraudulent practices related to student veterans benefits.
While a recent Washington Post investigation found trade schools which fleeced the VA of more than $300 million by teaching useless courses, charging exorbitant tuition, and other acts of GI Bill fraud, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs leader said many of the cases in those articles are a decade old and have been dealt with.
“The truth is, many of these were prosecuted because of my staff,” Kenneth Smith, VA’s executive director of Education Services, told The American Legion’s Veterans Employment & Education Commission at their meeting at the 107th National Convention in Louisville, Ky., on Aug. 29.
Still, “We know we can do better, and we’re making investments in tools, both data as well as human tools, to help identify people when they’re doing wrong things, so…
This category refers to crimes committed by employees or insiders against their own organizations. It is often the most damaging because the perpetrator has authorized access to systems.
- Asset Misappropriation: The most common form, involving the theft of company resources. This ranges from simple “skimming” (taking cash before it’s recorded) to complex schemes involving the theft of inventory or intellectual property.
- Payroll Fraud: Employees may create “ghost employees” on the system, falsify their own timesheets to claim unworked overtime, or divert salary payments to their own accounts.
- Financial Statement Fraud: Management deliberately misrepresents the company’s financial health by inflating revenue or hiding liabilities to attract investors or meet performance bonuses.