VA Insider Fraud: The Employees Who Robbed the House
Every other lane in this section is about outsiders getting in. This one is about the people who were already inside: the VA cashier, the travel clerk, the engineer with a stamp, the director with a side deal. They did not hack the system. They were the system, on the days they were stealing.
Insider cases are small next to the billion-dollar contracting files, and that is exactly why they matter. A travel clerk skimming reimbursements or an engineer steering work for bribes corrodes the one thing a benefits system cannot buy back: the veteran’s belief that the person across the desk is on his side. The Justice Department prosecutes these cases one employee at a time, and the pattern across them is the finding — cash handling, travel claims and purchasing authority are where the VA’s internal controls are thinnest.
The largest file here is a hospital director: Cleveland’s VA medical center director, who pleaded guilty to 64 counts after working a paid side consultancy for a firm doing VA business while still running the medical center — 57 months. Around him are the cash-register cases — Mizell the cashier, Minor the travel clerk, Jagger and the VA credit cards — each one a small, documented answer to the question of where a giant system actually leaks.
## VA insiders — the employees who robbed the houseThe Director for Hire
While running VA medical centers, William Montague secretly consulted for a design firm bidding on VA jobs — selling it inside information about VA construction. 64 counts. 57 months.
~$390,000 (Restitution and forfeiture paid) — Convicted · 57 months in prison after pleading guilty to 64 counts
The Shell Company That Fixed Nothing
A VA supervisory engineer invented HVAC jobs, billed his own hospital through a shell company fronted by his girlfriend, and pocketed over $500K. The jobs did not exist. 64 months.
$500,000+ (Fraud against the VA) — Convicted · 64 months in prison; $565,058.70 restitution
He Confessed to $13,000. He’d Taken $487,000.
A VA travel clerk emailed management admitting he stole about $13,000. The OIG investigation put the real figure at roughly $487,000 in travel reimbursements over four years.
~$487,000 (VA travel funds stolen, Dec. 2015–Sept. 2019) — Convicted · Two years in prison; $462,256 restitution and forfeiture
The Prosthetics Agent Who Fenced CPAP Supplies for Eight Years
A VA prosthetics purchasing agent used his government card for eight years to buy CPAP supplies and resell them out of state. Over $1.9M. He worked in the department that serves veterans who need equipment to breathe.
$1.9M+ (Unauthorized purchases on his VA card) — Convicted · Two years and three months in prison; $2,041,733.62 restitution
$198,183.84 in iPads, on the Government Card
A Cleveland VA logistics worker bought $198K of iPads and iPhones on his work credit card and fenced them online. His partner was caught in Indiana with $29K of the electronics, 16 iPhones, a loaded Glock, and other people’s credit cards.
$198,183.84 (Electronics and goods purchased/stolen) — Convicted · Each sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison; $198,183.84 restitution (Jagger)
The Cashier Who Drained Bedridden Veterans’ Accounts
A VA cashier withdrew money from the patient accounts of veterans too disabled to walk to his window — then claimed pandemic unemployment while working full-time. Six months in prison.
$57,000+ (Stolen from veteran patients + pandemic benefits) — Convicted · Six months in prison; two years’ supervised release with six months on a monitor; over $57,000 restitution
The $10.8 Million Bonus Round: Skill Incentives for the Executives Themselves
From the report library: the inspector general on the VA’s critical-skill incentive payments to senior executives.
0 for 30: GAO Carried a Weapon Into Every VA Hospital It Tested
From the report library: covert tests of VA facility security — what investigators walked past the front desk.
Phoenix 2014: The Secret Wait Lists
From the report library: Phoenix 2014, the secret wait lists — the insider scandal that defined the modern VA accountability era.
- O’Keefe Media Group: LEAKED — a VA Insider Reveals the HHS Memo on Presidential Inauguration Support Deployment
- Forbes: a Top VA Democrat Charged — “Her Attorney Is Saying This Is Political Payback”
This lane holds 6 insider cases. The full index — every category, every status — is The Case Files, and the whole section starts at the VA Fraud hub.
Watch the Coverage
Judicial Watch alleges: Do You Oppose Government Corruption?