60-year-old man living in Milwaukee sentenced for defrauding VA

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A 60-year-old man currently living in Milwaukee was sentenced in Federal Court in Green Bay to 21 months in prison to be followed by three years supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $201,521.41 after his guilty plea to wire fraud.

According to the plea agreement, beginning around November 2002, and continuing until at least September 2015 Dean Young devised and carried out a scheme to defraud the VA.

Young’s scheme was essentially to defraud the VA of compensation and pension benefits by providing false information to the VA, at its Regional Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In one instance, Young provided materially false information to the VA, upon which the VA relied in awarding pension and compensation benefits that he was not entitled which totaled $201,521.41. One such claim stemmed from a 2013 VA doctor appointment during which Young claimed he required a wheelchair and that he could only walk a few steps due to extreme back pain. Following the appointment, the VA doctor observed Young walk across the VA parking lot without use of the wheelchair and with a normal gait. Young then folded up his wheelchair and placed it in his car. Further, law enforcement obtained video of Young that same day walking down the hallway of his apartment complex and standing in the elevator while carrying a box, all without the aid of a wheelchair or cane.

While handing down the sentence, the judge described the offense as a “massive and blatant fraud” that went on for many years. He also noted that it involved public funds intended for truly deserving veteran.

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