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WASHINGTON MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO UNLAWFULLY

COLLECTING VA BENEFITS -- 75-year-old could

get up to ten years in federal prison.

 

 

It just doesn't pay to try to get away with fraud on the VA!

Story here... http://seattlepi.nw
source.com/local/6420AP_WA
_Unlawful_Benefits.html

Story below:

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WA man pleads guilty to unlawfully
collecting Veterans benefits

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE -- A 75-year-old man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to unlawfully collecting Veterans Affairs benefits that totaled $120,452.

Stephen C. Bates, of Seattle, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18 by Judge Marsha J. Pechman.

According to the plea agreement, from 1996 through 2005, Bates cashed monthly Veterans Affairs benefit checks from the U.S. Department of Treasury that were intended solely for the benefit of his mother, who had died.

Bates' mother was the widow of a deceased veteran and was entitled to the checks until her death.

The offense is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison.

(Contact: Emily Langlie, U.S. attorney's office in Seattle, 206-553-4110)

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Larry Scott  --