The Six-Week HVAC Course That Drained $72 Million

Essentially broke, Jonathan Davis got a six-week HVAC course approved for GI Bill money at $18,000–$21,000 a head, collected $72M, and bought a $2.2M house, a Lamborghini, a Ferrari and a Bentley. Veterans testified they felt “bamboozled.” 19+ years.

Davis realized he could charge $18,000 to $21,000 per student for a six-week HVAC course if Texas agencies and then the VA approved his school for GI Bill payments. He lied to the Texas Workforce Commission about pending civil judgments and a felony theft-of-services charge, and told the Texas Veterans Commission the school had operated two years when it had existed only months, had no building, and had never trained a student. He also submitted false financial statements.

Veterans testified the training left them without basic entry-level HVAC skills and that they felt "used," "deceived," and "bamboozled" at how fast it drained their benefits. His own electronic journal — "more lying is in order" — became key trial evidence.

A jury convicted him of seven counts of wire fraud and four counts of money laundering. VA OIG, FBI Dallas and the Postal Inspection Service investigated.

"lining his pockets with veterans’ GI Bill benefits even as they were struggling to scrape by"
— U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas. Case file in the VA Fraud case files — part of the VA Fraud record. Cases are published as the courts decided them; amounts are stated as the Justice Department states them (billed, stolen, or ordered in restitution, as labeled).