Wannabee caught by VA, SSA, etc

[Berta]

Eastern District of PennsylvaniaFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
"Bucks County Man Sentenced to Over Three Years for Faking Military Hero Status and Stealing from the Government
PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Richard Meleski, 58, of Chalfont, PA, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $302,121 in restitution for a particularly disgraceful fraud scheme to steal Veterans Administration (VA) benefits by pretending to be a veteran who had been captured by the enemy during combat.

In July 2020, the defendant pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of stolen valor, two counts of fraudulent military papers, as well as two counts of aiding and abetting straw purchases, and one count of making false statements in connection with receiving Social Security Administration disability benefits.

The charges stemmed from Meleski fraudulently claiming to have served as an elite Navy SEAL and falsely representing that he had been a Prisoner of War in order to secure healthcare benefits from the VA worth over $300,000. Due to his false representation as a Prisoner of War, the defendant received healthcare from the VA in Priority Group 3, effectively receiving healthcare before other deserving military service members. In reality, Meleski never served one day in the United States military.

The defendant also filed for monetary compensation from the VA for PTSD suffered during an armed conflict in Beirut in which he rescued injured teammates. In his application for disability benefits for PTSD, Meleski falsely represented that he had been awarded the Silver Star for his heroic actions during his time as a Navy SEAL. Again, Meleski never served a single day in the United States military and was never awarded such commendation. Meleski also submitted another application to the VA for monetary compensation in which he included obituaries of actual Navy SEALs alongside whom he falsely said he had served. He traded on the actions of these true service members in an attempt to bolster his application for monetary benefits.

The defendant also filed for disability benefits from The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) for injuries he claimed to have received during his time in the military.  Meleski falsely testified under oath in connection with an SSA Disability proceeding.

“The defendant faked a record as a decorated U.S. Navy SEAL in order to collect numerous forms of taxpayer-funded compensation,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “The fact that Meleski chose to put himself ahead of true war heroes in order to take advantage of benefits designed specifically for those serving in the U.S. military is profoundly offensive. Our veterans fought for the freedoms we hold dear, and as we approach the twentieth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 this Saturday, their sacrifices are even more meaningful. The defendant’s actions dishonor all of their legacies.”

“We are grateful to our federal partners for their work in pursuing and prosecuting those who impersonate our nation’s hero’s and unlawfully obtain benefits meant for those who served,” said RADM Karen Flaherty-Oxler (RET), Medical Center Director for the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz (Philadelphia) VA Medical Center. “It is disheartening to see someone who benefited from the service of our Veterans, dishonor them in this manner. Nonetheless, our day-to-day mission of caring for our Veterans continues uninterrupted and with the same vigor and commitment.”

“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that those who benefit from falsely claiming to have served in the United States military will be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Algieri, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office. “The VA OIG appreciates the support of the United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners in securing justice for our nation’s true heroes.”

“This defendant defrauded the government in many different ways for several years,” said Matthew Varisco, Special Agent in charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division.  “The outcome of this investigation is the result of several law enforcement agencies working together for a common goal – to keep our communities safe from criminals like Meleski. I want to thank our law enforcement partners at the VA OIG, SSA OIG and the U.S Attorney’s Office for this successful prosecution.”

The case was investigated by Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and it is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Megan Curran."

Bucks County Man Sentenced to Over Three Years for Faking Military Hero Status and Stealing from the Government | USAO-EDPA | Department of Justice

[brokensoldier244th]

So, in a dream, a vision came to me....and in that vision I saw that Mr Meleski was denied benefits in 2012, and that the RMC has no record of his service. That in itself is not necessarily a denying factor, though it usually results more scrutiny. There are a lot of you, for example, that are missing this or missing that and it can't be found at NPRC or RMC, either. This was in 2012, though, so I have no idea how things were done then.

I have to wonder, though, how this never got noticed by peers- Sure, maybe he never crossed direct paths with SEALS, but when you tell everyone you are, that gets around, and depending on the circles you are in eventually it gets to someone that knows if you are bullshitting or not. SEALS, I would assume, are a puretty insular group and also pretty small. My dad's Recon service from vietnam sometimes caused reminiscing in a bar with someone that wasn't Recon but after half on hour of exchanging names and units and yadda yadda eventually it gets to "oh yeah! I remember that guy!!!!......" or something between 2 people that have never met each other before. 

A dead giveaway should have been his DD214 blk 15 (specialty name- who literally calls their unit classification "red cell"?), Date of Rank (shows a date range not a date), blk 26 and 27 remarks. The 'language' and verbiage isn't right- its way to conversational. Most DD214 remarks I see sound like they were written by a robot-probably because they basically are, cobbled from several databases and then fed into the form. I don't usually see 'citation' verbiage on a 214, either, that's its own separate thing in OMPF, a Personnel Action entry or similar. 

It should be noted that the benefits he got from the VA were  VHA healthcare only. The efforts to verify his service spanned from 2013 when he first filed, and then again in 2018 when he filed again. Neither time was his service verified by VBA, despite repeated efforts to RMC, NPRC, and directly to his last station. VHA does their own verification, and the fact that we couldn't find anything (had they asked) would have nipped this right then. We have several entries in there of "cannot verify service" and "denial due to no service verification". He filed for VBA benefits but never got anything. Went through POA's like water, too, but thats probably because they got to a point where they called him on his bullshit. 

 

But, like I said, this was all in a dream and who knows if any of its true.......

 

214Print2.pdf 214PRINT.pdf

[brokensoldier244th]

2 hours ago, pacmanx1 said:

There is a lot more to this story, not only did this pozer know too much, but he also had to know names, dates, time, unit and the events that happened. This pozer was never in the military. Most civilians would not know that awards have orders numbers, and they can’t be faked.

My last SF unit was given several JMUAs and they were left off my DD 214 and since I stayed in the local area at that time I just went back on post to my old unit and they typed a letter that I had to send in my DD 149 to get my awards added to my records with a DD 215 but what civilian would know that the awards would need orders numbers that had to be reviewed and those order numbers have a list of all soldiers names, SSNs, ranks and unit assigned that was eligible for those awards? He had to have had help from someone in the know.

True, but none of what he claimed was verified by the VBA side, so as far as we were concerned his claim was circular filed. He didnt get any benefits from VBA- just SSA and health stuff. He could buy a silver star off of Ebay or Amazon. I don't know what VHA's procedure is to verify- its been too long since I did it. He had a VHA issued ID card with a POW disclaimer on it (i've seen it) so somebody there F'd up royally- or took his other 'evidence' at face value. There is a certain amount of trust afforded to preponderance of evidence and many civilians have little idea what most of our documentation looks like. It's easily findable, though. I've even seen parts of vet's VA records in open photo and document hosting sites because they uploaded them to then submit to a forum or something and then never took them down. 

The obituary thing wouldn't be that difficult- I typed in "navy seal obituary" and had no trouble finding a few. He would just need to find some from around his time.  Most records in a personnel file that I see show names of other people only if they are relevant, but certainly not unit mates unless its movement orders or a group promotion. If he faked parts of a personnel file in some way it wouldn't be difficult either because, as Berta mentioned, a DD214 that has been registered with a county recorder is now public information in many states and subject to open records laws- thats why I tell people not to do it. Just scan it and put it  on a few thumb drives along with your Cfile, 201 file, and whatever else you want on there and then stash them places that only you, your banker, and maybe your spouse, friend, or a family member know about. 

I don't recall any SEAL hostage incidents related to Beruit in 1983, I was a kid. Ive gone back and read about stuff like that, though, since my dad was Marines, then Army before, during, and after than period. I was curious. I would think if 4 Navy Seals had gotten captured during that time at SOME point the story would have come out, at least in pieces. That should have been easily verifiable, too. 

The unit designation and information- just out of curiosity I looked up the name of one of the more public Navy Seals (Richard Marchinko) and on my first hit on Wikipedia I found mentions of "red cell" and OP-06D, the unit designator on Mr. Meleski's 214 (see my other post), so there is that- a fake but real looking (to most people) 214 with mentions of units that you can verify by googling up a Navy Seal that was in that unit- easy.  You'd think, though, if there had been a hostage situation with 4 Navy Seals on Team 6/Red Cell Mr. Marchinko would have talked about it somewhere or put it in one of his books like he does everything else. All of his awards are conveniently displayed on Wikipedia, also, properly spaced out and everything, so, there is your faked Class A or whatever dress uniform the Navy uses. 

I don't recall any SEAL hostage incidents related to Beruit in 1983, I was a kid. Ive gone back and read about stuff like that, though, since my dad was Marines, then Army before, during, and after than period. I was curious. I would think if 4 Navy Seals had gotten captured during that time at SOME point the story would have come out, at least in pieces. That should have been easily verifiable, too. 

[Mr.B]

This is sad! The VA give people that really severed many years hell filling claims! However, they are more open to war stories! SMH

[brokensoldier244th]

1 minute ago, Mr.B said:

This is sad! The VA give people that really severed many years hell filling claims! However, they are more open to war stories! SMH

We didn't give him a dime. 

[broncovet]

This almost "had" to have "inside (VA) help".  Why?  Because VA verifies every single word I say.  I cant sneeze without VA requiring proof of a discarded tissue.  

The article indicated this was "not" just stealing health care, but also disability comp benefts from VBA.  (Some 300k).  

My "opinion" is that someone could likely get away with rippiing off a VAMC with a copier and a little "white out" on a dd214, BUT it would never fly at VBA for compensation without inside help.  This is my opinion only.  (From the article):

Quote

one count of making false statements in connection with receiving Social Security Administration disability benefits.

 

[brokensoldier244th]

7 minutes ago, broncovet said:

This almost "had" to have "inside (VA) help".  Why?  Because VA verifies every single word I say.  I cant sneeze without VA requiring proof of a discarded tissue.  

The article indicated this was "not" just stealing health care, but also disability comp benefts from VBA.  (Some 300k).  

My "opinion" is that someone could likely get away with rippiing off a VAMC with a copier and a little "white out" on a dd214, BUT it would never fly at VBA for compensation without inside help.  This is my opinion only.  (From the article):

 

He didn't ever get anything from VBA. His claim never succeeded though he tried twice. 

 

The charges stemmed from Meleski fraudulently claiming to have served as an elite Navy SEAL and falsely representing that he had been a Prisoner of War in order to secure healthcare benefits from the VA worth over $300,000.

Edited September 10, 2021 by brokensoldier244th