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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(130,048 posts)
Fri Jun 30, 2023, 08:20 PM Jun 2023

An Idaho man took $105M in largest fraud scheme in GI Bill history. Prison is up next

A federal judge has sentenced a Nampa man for his involvement in a fraud scheme that stole nearly $105 million from the Department of Veterans Affairs. It was the largest such case in the Post-9/11 GI Bill program’s history, the government said.

Michael Bostock, 54, founded the California Technical Academy, a for-profit school offering technical training programs at three locations near Los Angeles and San Diego, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Between January 2012 and June 2022, Bostock worked with two co-defendants to enroll unknowing veterans in courses, and also falsified records to make it look as if the courses had been completed.

The scheme involved using phone numbers controlled by Bostock in these records, according to court documents. When regulators called numbers to verify information, Bostock and his co-conspirators would impersonate veterans.

District of Columbia Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced Bostock to five years in prison on Monday, followed by three years of supervised release, and also ordered him to pay the amount stolen as restitution. Bostock signed an agreement forfeiting bank accounts containing nearly $2 million to the government.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/idaho-man-took-105m-largest-210806101.html

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An Idaho man took $105M in largest fraud scheme in GI Bill history. Prison is up next (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jun 2023 OP
5 yrs but must repay. GreenWave Jun 2023 #1
5 years in actual jail? You gotta be freaking kidding me. Hugh_Lebowski Jun 2023 #2
I'm willing to bet... 2naSalit Jun 2023 #3
$2 million recovered, only $103 million to go muriel_volestrangler Jul 2023 #4
Justice in America is messed up! 5 years, you kidding? Emile Jul 2023 #5
 

Hugh_Lebowski

(33,643 posts)
2. 5 years in actual jail? You gotta be freaking kidding me.
Fri Jun 30, 2023, 08:44 PM
Jun 2023

You'd do that time just for stealing a freaking pay phone that's worth $1000.

Well, if you're poor, I mean.

Unbelievable. This should be 20 years in the can, absolute minimum.

muriel_volestrangler

(105,052 posts)
4. $2 million recovered, only $103 million to go
Sat Jul 1, 2023, 06:57 AM
Jul 2023

If they've managed to squirrel a significant amount of it away (offshore accounts, cryptocurrency ...), it's a damn fine payday for a few years' fraud and then prison time.

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