VA Employee Sentenced For Scheme That Diverted Nearly $19M From Sick Veterans And Their Families
DENVER (CBS4) - Aurora resident Joseph Prince was sentenced Thursday in Denver federal court for implementing and directing a scam that ultimately sent almost $19 million in fraudulent funds to accounts belonging to his family and friends. The money was obtained between June 2017 and June 2018 while Prince, 61, worked at a VA call center. He had contact with Korea and Vietnam war veterans and their family members suffering from Spina Bifida, a spinal cord condition that can lead to severe physical and intellectual disabilities. Prince was a liaison between those families and health care providers. Reimbursement of families was one of his responsibilities.
"As the architect of an elaborate conspiracy based on a fictional VA home health program the defendant invented," stated a press release from the United States Attorney General's Office, "Prince recruited friends and family members to open 'home health agencies' knowing they lacked the necessary medical licenses or credentials to bill the VA for (Spina Bifida) beneficiaries' home health services. The defendant directed every aspect of the home health agencies; no changes were made to business operations without his knowledge, review, and approval.
"Further, with direct access to the SB beneficiaries and their family members, Prince identified himself to them as the one in charge of the fictional program. He represented that he had the authority on behalf of the VA to approve family members as home health care providers for the SB beneficiaries, even though the caregivers had no specific training certifications."
Forty five beneficiaries were caught in Prince's sham program and were given roughly 20 percent reimbursement toward treatment while the remaining 80 percent went to five of the fake home health care agencies Prince had created. Prince directly received approximately $1.5 million from two of them.
The VA, Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations began making a case against Prince in 2018. He was indicted in June of that year and found guilty during a trial in March of this year. The charges included health care fraud, conspiracy, payment of illegal kickbacks and gratuities, money laundering, and conflict of interest charges.
"To steal from a program that is intended to help our veterans and their children who suffer from serious medical conditions is reprehensible," said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn said after the trial. "Mr. Prince was also harming the American taxpayers and will now pay a significant price for his actions."
Prince received a sentence of 16 years in federal prison. He was also ordered to pay back the $18,777,134.68 taken from the Veteran's Health Administration. Federal agents are in the process of recovering $950,000 of the money, according to USAG spokesman Jeff Dorschner.
Prince walked into Thursday's hearing free on bond but was taken into custody to immediately begin his sentence in federal prison.
"Bribery and corruption pose a fundamental threat to our governmental agencies and the public's confidence in them," said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider following sentencing. "Joseph Prince's actions took a significant toll on our community's trust in the Office of Veteran's Affairs and its pocketbooks, siphoning away money that could be used for resources beneficial to those who need it most, our veterans who served our country."
Other suspects in the operation have pleaded guilty to charges. Glenn Beach and Catherine Beach are scheduled to be sentenced on June 22 and Roland Vaughn on the 25th.
