| PART 2 OF 2 -- VA'S FIDUCIARY
PROGRAM: A GOOD IDEA GONE VERY, VERY BAD
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland looks
at the dark side of the VA's fiduciary program. Or - "I'm from the
VA, and I'm here to help."
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Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland
provides regular columns for VA Watchdog dot Org.
If you would like to contact Jim
about his columns, you can email
him here... The archive of Jim's articles
is here...
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Watchdog search engine...
click here...
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"A to Z GUIDE OF VETERANS
DISABILITY COMPENSATION BENEFITS"
click here...
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MILITARY VETERANS"
click here...
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PART 2 OF 2 -- VA'S FIDUCIARY
PROGRAM: A GOOD IDEA GONE VERY, VERY BAD --
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland looks
at the dark side of the VA's fiduciary program. Or - "I'm from the
VA, and I'm here to help."
by Jim Strickland
Part one
of this series is here ...
Vicki Olson tells me that all she wanted to do when
she met her veteran Mike was “wash his clothes and pursue the
American dream.”
Vicki knew Mike had some issues left over from his
wartime experiences. He was rated as 100% disabled and VA had
labeled him as incompetent. His mother had been named as his payee
and helped him manage his funds.
Mike was doing better and in 2003 and he married
Vicki. He was approved by all the authorities to adopt her child.
Mike and Vicki saw this as another opportunity to keep doing better
in mainstream life in America and applied to VA at that point for
release from the oversight of the VA fiduciary program.
 The
VA denied the application to release him from the fiduciary
oversight but they did change his payee to Vicki and the newlyweds
saw that as progress. The program wasn’t too tough to deal with and
the Field Examiner was local and mostly available when they had any
needs.
In 2008 VA centralized the program to the Regional
Office. Now Field Examiner Nancy Grabman was in charge. On the first
home visit, Ms. Grabman insisted that they sell a motorcycle that
had been owned in whole by them long ago...Vicki held the title to
the bike and any expenses were minor. But...Vicki complied and there
went the bike.
This was the beginning;
“I’m here from the VA and I’m going to help you.”
Field Examiner Grabman began to send out warnings
regarding unauthorized purchases, notices about access to Mike’s
money and “protection clauses”. This had never been the case before
so Vicki and Mike were unsure of what was expected of them. Vicki
asked for some written guidelines so they would know the rules.
Vicki was told that “The rules are subject to change and each case
is different.”
It seemed VA was telling them; “We make the rules but
we don’t have to tell you. At any time we may change the rules and
you are expected to know them. It isn’t our responsibility”.
Does any of this sound familiar?
In December of 2008, the Olsons were verbally
informed they had exceeded the guidelines of a purchase
authorization amount. They didn’t understand the issue as they
hadn’t received anything in writing to tell them of any such
guidelines. Vicki was verbally reprimanded by VA during a field
visit in 2009. An audit was conducted in February of 2009 and didn’t
uncover or record any violations. The audit and its findings
received approval by VA 02/25/2010. It took almost a year but the
audit was clean.
During this time, 02/01/2010, Vicki tried to contact
Grabman regarding a loan payoff and to seek permission to purchase a
washer and dryer that they needed. When Ms. Grabman didn’t return
the call, Vicki tried twice more. Then on 02/19/2009 Vicki filed a
complaint with the call center. Vicki was desperate for some help,
the FE wasn’t returning her calls and she complained.
Suddenly, she was hearing from Grabman again. Grabman
was calling day and night, weekends included. She was demanding
short notice inspections and visits and the Olsons felt compelled to
file a written complaint 03/15/2010. All during this time Grabman
had continued to refuse to address the request for a washer and
dryer.
Then it happened...Vicki was to be punished for being
uppity. She shouldn’t have complained, not even if the complaint was
justified. A field visit occurred on 03/23/2010 and by 04/07/2010 a
new payee...a VA appointed fiduciary, had signed papers taking
charge of Mike’s money.
Vicki told me,
“Documents were signed by a new payee on 4/7/10. I
must have really messed up in this one month to get this kind of
immediate action from the VA. These documents list intent to name
Joana Springmier of Greenfield Banking Co. as Mike’s Legal Guardian.
We pay her 4% of comp., but Springmier takes her direction from the
VA.”
She goes on,
“Jim, Bills that have never been late (many in my
name per VA policy) are now facing disconnects and cancellations.
We have asked for bank statements, but have not received one. The
VA has me paying the monthly Tri-Care premium, but the bank denied
paying his child’s co-pay. We have requested funds for car repairs
that were ignored. Our complaints were not ignored; an on-line
argument occurred with Springmier, and we ended up hiring an
attorney. This whole process has threatened every civil liberty that
my husband and many other disabled veterans fought to defend.
It doesn’t seem to matter to me that they violated a
few of mine; all I wanted to do was wash his clothes. Today, I fight
for my disabled husband and the return of our American Dream. I
watched an ABC news program today. It was a story about the
epidemic of service member suicide. It was a reminder of everything
Mike has overcome and everything the VA is denying him. How can
they promote readjustment; therapy, sobriety, and family/social ties
when Mike has been following that path for the last 13 years.
Mike and I were doing well considering our
challenges. That was until VA stepped in to help us. His mental and
physical health has since deteriorated and I’m not doing very well
myself.
Most frustrating is the total lack of response from
VA. It’s been made obvious that we have no rights at all. There
isn’t one person at VA who will hear us when we seek their
attention. I feel like I’m in prison. Please help us Jim.”
Vicki and Mike have been forced to hire a lawyer. The
lawyer’s efforts have not been effective to date.
(Below, the letter from the lawyer to the bank
fiduciary)
May 9, 2010
Ms. Joana Springmier, Trust Officer
Greenfield Bank
1920 N. State Street
Greenfield, Indiana 46140
Re: (Redacted)
Dear Ms. Springmier:
I represent Michael J.(Redacted).
According to the April 15, 2010 correspondence to
you from S.E. Draves, Veteran Service Center Manager, you were
appointed fiduciary over Michael (Redacted) Department of Veterans
Affairs benefits.
Unfortunately, in your April 26, 2010 e-mail
correspondence to Mr. (Redacted) you indicate that you are a
fiduciary for the Veterans Administration, not Mr. (Redacted).
Once the funds reach your bank, you become the
fiduciary for Mr. (Redacted) , not the Department of Veterans
Affairs .
Mr. (Redacted) forwarded bills to you, but you have
been delinquent in paying those bills. For instance, the
(Redacted) send you their utility bill immediately upon receipt.
You will note that City Utilities sent them a Final Notice Prior
To Disconnection as a result of your failure to make timely
payments. The (Redacted) sent you a copy of the invoice for their
motor vehicle insurance. You failed to pay that invoice on time,
which resulted in the enclosed Notice of Cancellation.
In addition, on June 19,2010 Mr. (Redacted)
requested you to pay for his daughter's insurance co-pay.
Without citing any applicable law, you refused to
pay the dependent's co-pay insurance.
Prior to your appointment, these bills, as well as
all other bills, were being paid on time by the (Redacted)
Your failure to make timely payments of the
(Redacted) necessary and ordinary living expenses have created
undue hardship, and may affect their credit rating. (Mr.
(Redacted) has a copy of his credit report if you care to see it.
I am not certain you have legal authority to access it on your
own.)
I request that you contact me if I have
inaccurately stated any fact in this letter, and specifically
indicate which facts I have misrepresented. If I do not hear from
you, I will proceed under the basis that you failed to timely pay
Mr. (Redacted) legitimate living expenses and advise him
accordingly.
Very truly yours,
GROSSMAN & LITCHIN LLP
KCL:kmk, Enclosures
Vicki continues;
“The VA has not liked that I have gotten outside
forces involved. The VA and bank have been more responsive to
letters sent to vendors. The bank did not appreciate the view I
placed on review boards(ie: yellow book.com, mediacircle.com,etc.)
I drew this V.P./Trust Officer out and have
documentation that she takes her direction from the VA even though
she draws a 4% commission from the veteran.
This is one dirty little secret that the VA does not
want exposed, and given current views on bank-government relations,
neither does the banking industry. They do not want to see the
headlines that disabled veterans provide additional bailouts for the
banks involved.
These direct deposit accounts represent assets and
big money for the banks; they do not like that I have pointed out
this connection that most would not think of. The VA, due to the
attention we have drawn, have taken the threat that the veteran
would rather starve than be under fiduciary quite seriously and
recognize that that would also play out badly for them. We did not
make this threat until after we were sure we had public opinion and
our local news story out. In short, the VA does not know what to do
with someone who will bite the hand that feeds them.”
You aren’t alone Vicki.
Vicki 07/14/2010
“Jim,
I know I ain’t alone, that’s what scares me. How about having the
Regional Director noting (documented) a lack of due process. I can
send you that, as he tried to justify the intent of guardianship as
having never been followed through with State filing. Like that is
supposed to make this threat ok or not abusive. It seems that any
way you look at it the "incompetent" disabled veterans have no civil
rights with the VA.”
It’s a bit of an afterthought at this point, but
Vicki...just how incompetent is your husband?
Jim, See the attached document. That should answer
your questions.
(The mentioned document is
available here for viewing or download.)
A good friend, a VA employee who is loyal to VA and
to the veterans he serves, wrote to let me know I’d reported on what
were likely isolated incidents and that my stories don’t reflect the
real state of the VA fiduciary program.
The email excerpts below represent a few of what I
have in my mailbox.
03/19/2009 (A veteran writes to me...)
I started searching (the VA Watchdog dot Org) website
and found it absolutely valuable in helping me to get through all
the steps regarding taking care of my husband's affairs. Here's
where I need your help. I've read some of the articles about
fiduciary appointments, but I think I have a good one for you.
I followed the military's instruction to apply for VA
benefits when my husband was medically retired in October 2008.
When it was determined by the VA that my husband was mentally
incompetent to oversee his finances, it was also determined by the
VA that a fiduciary would be necessary and since I was the spouse
that would be me. Well, a field representative came to our house
and did some paperwork processing. Two days later, he called me to
tell me that I could not be my husband's fiduciary because my credit
score wasn't 750. I proceeded to tell him that was because of the
several month lapse in pay from the stoppage of military retirement
to waiting for VA benefits which had not begun that our bills fell
behind and my score dropped even further because he (the field rep)
made an inquiry. He proceeded to tell me that he was appointing a
bank to oversee my husband's benefits and that that bank was going
to charge a 5% service fee!!!!! (yikes!!).
To my surprise, two weeks ago, I got a letter from
the VA stating a final decision had been made and that I was my
husband fiducairy and they were releasing his back benefits. Today,
I get a letter from a lawyer stating I was being sued by the bank
who had been appointed as fiduciary because they were the fiduciary
and not me.
05/30/2009 (A veteran writes to me...)
Jim, I have many questions for you beginning with
where can I find a manual about fiduciary rules that are easy for a
lay person to read? Is there such a manual? Are there advocates to
help a family or veteran work with the Fiduciary department? How
can you get them to call you back when you have problems? Do you
hear of others who are having difficulty dealing with this system?
Where are the checks and balances when it comes to both the
fiduciary unit/field examiner/court appointed fiduciaries. It seems
to me that they have more leeway and the ability to not to disclose
information to the veteran and his family who have the right and
deserve to know. It seems to me that this can get out of hand and
no one is helping the veteran deal with this huge system.
08/14/2009 (A veteran writes to me...)
Jim; I'll get right to the point. I am writing on
behalf of my 23 year old son who served in Iraq with the Oregon
Guard in 2005. I believe that his fiduciary may be
"misappropriating" his funds and I would like to help him find
someone who can check into this. He continuously asks to see copies
of his accounting...she says that she will provide him with a copy
and then she changes her mind. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
If you have any information that I can pass onto my son, it would be
greatly appreciated. Your site is impressive and thank you for all
the hard work that you folks do.
10/29/2009 (A veteran writes to me...)
Hello, I am my brothers VA appointed custodian for
his VA funds and court appointed conservator for his other monies,
such as social security. My brothers field examiner seems to have a
problem with me being his conservator. I receive no monetary benefit
from the VA or court for handling my brothers money. My brother
lives on the same property I live on. This field examiner even went
so far as to instruct one of the clerks in the court to stop my bid
to become my brothers conservator. However it did not work for her
and I still was able to become his conservator. Last week I sent 8
faxes to the regional office in Columbia, S.C. to request a golf
cart for my brother and she said she did not receive any of them. I
then was able to contact someone else at the regional office and
send them the same fax and they got it immediately. So what is up
with this lady? I am beginning to think that she is funneling
conservator-ships into the hands of certain people to empower them
monetarily. Others after all receive compensation for handling
veterans monies, I don't. Can you give me some good advice, please?
12/10/2009 (A veteran writes to me...)
Dear Mr Strickland, A little over a year ago I was
appointed fiduciary and custodian of my then boyfriend. He is an OIF
veteran who is 100% combat connected disabled with a host of
problems, PTSD being the most notable to the VA. We didn't feel he
needed a fiduciary, but after fighting with the VA over his case we
didn't have to energy to continue the fight against him being deemed
unable to care for his own affairs. And since I was willing, we
decided to go ahead and submit to them on this detail.
Three weeks ago I was sent a threatening letter and
needless to say, when I was appointed fiduciary I was given
incomplete and down right wrong information about how to do the job
and what was expected. I have been clearing up this issue, but I
have a simple question because the information I get from them
always seems to be off the mark a bit.
My veteran and I were married at the end of November
of this year. I was told that now that we are married I no longer
have to provide them with a penny by penny accounting for his
benefits. Do you know if this is correct?
Vicki continues Mike’s story;
“I watched an ABC news program today. It was a story
about the epidemic of service member suicide. It was a reminder of
everything Mike has overcome and everything the VA is denying him.
How can they promote readjustment; therapy, sobriety, and
family/social ties when Mike has been following that path for the
last 13 years (and yet they treat him like this).
We have never met or had any type of personal contact
with Springmier, except the "official" one line letter of where to
send our bills. All business has been on-line. I cannot tell you
exactly what Mike is paying her (our estimate $130.00 month) because
we have not seen where any of his comp. has gone since April. The
VA claims that they are doing us a favor, we are having $300 per
month into savings, but we have no proof or bank statement.
Springmier is not available to us and we were told by
Grabman (verbal) that ‘she is one of the best Trust officers that
the VARO uses, and successfully manages over 30 disabled veterans
accounts."’ Apparently she is available to the VA and not the
Veteran.
As the VA knows, we have not been able to find an
attorney to represent a VA issue. We approached the attorney about
the banks responsibilities as fiduciary. I pointed out that it may
be apples and oranges, but that Cushman v. Shinseki shows that the
disabled vet has an entitlement to these funds that is protected by
the constitution as property. This was the approach that the
attorney took with the bank, and there has been no response from
either the bank or VA.
The attorney has let me know that when I have taken
care of all administrative appeals he will pick up our case in civil
court, he has looked at all my documentation.
We were given no chance to appeal or any type of
hearing in this matter, it was decided 13 years ago when deemed
incompetent. Once incompetent the VA does not recognize the vets
"state of mind in these matters" (again verbal). Basically, the
veteran is crazy and cannot make these decisions for himself. As FE
Grabman informed me (verbally) "I no longer have to deal with you,
please put Mike on the phone." This was on 4/15/10 when we were
notified of the changes dated 4/7. It was all done so quickly and
without our knowledge that my head is still spinning.”
Vicki’s most recent email to me;
“Money being "conserved" for the veterans use is not
being released for anything that people save for. Our banker hung up
on Mike when he asked why she would not make authorizations (like
car repairs) that fall under $1,000. Keep in mind, that $70 per
month is taken out for CAR REPAIRS, seperate from the savings they
are forcing on us. We still have not received so much as a bank
statement. We sat and guessed at what this woman makes from
disabled veterans; we were told that she handles over 30 veteran
files and multiplied this by the amount we pay, for a total of about
$4,000 per month.
As time goes on, the VA is no longer hearing my
noise, and this is where I need your help Jim. We believe that the
VA is waiting for my voice to be quieted, and then intend on denying
Mike competency. They will then actively seek his total legal
guardianship. Please help me tell the VA that I married a wonderful
man, not an abusive government agency. The mail just arrived, no
word from the VA today 7/28/10.
I have been sitting here reading the post comments
from part one, and considering the sample letters included in my
part. Then I start thinking about how to make a change. The answer
I come up with is UNITY. Please feel free to release my e-mail
address, if it can help to help reach others and share not only our
ideas; but also our experience, strength, and hope. We have the
chance to speak up now, before the multitude of newly qualified PTSD
disabled veterans get pulled in. I want to be hated and feared
too!!!! THANK YOU.”
Hello, I’m from the VA and I’m going to help you.
Is the fiduciary system running on sheer
incompetence, an utter lack of caring and respect for what the PTSD
afflicted veteran suffered to get to this point or is there a
conspiracy to defraud hapless, helpless veterans of the right to due
process as well as their money?
Are the most fragile and the weakest of our ranks
singled out for the bullying of the fiduciary only because of their
complete lack of defenses?
A few facts, some opinions and then you decide:
Title 38 - Chapter I Part 3 - 3.353
Determinations of incompetency and competency.
http://cfr.vlex.com/vid/3-353-determinations-incompe
tency-competency-19775480
(3)(e) Due process. Whenever it is proposed to make
an incompetency determination, the beneficiary will be notified of
the proposed action and of the right to a hearing as provided in
3.103. Such notice is not necessary if the beneficiary has been
declared incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction or if a
guardian has been appointed for the beneficiary based upon a court
finding of incompetency. If a hearing is requested it must be held
prior to a rating decision of incompetency.
Parents and spouses who over time have surely proven
their dedication to their loved one, too often encounter a VBA
system marked by its rigidity, intrusiveness, and unreasonableness
when it conducts oversight of those caregivers in their role as the
veteran’s fiduciary.
Let me illustrate my point by way of examples:
-
A VBA field examiner imposing a summer-vacation
expenditure limit for a profoundly wounded warrior, his wife and
two children;
-
A mother/caregiver having to explain to a VBA
examiner why she allowed her wounded-warrior son to spend “too
much” money on Christmas gifts;
-
The spouse/caregiver of a traumatically
brain-injured veteran having to get permission from a VBA field
examiner to purchase a couch;
-
A devoted mother-caregiver to her
minimally-conscious son being required to pay back money for
toilet paper purchased for the home with the veteran's funds;
-
A family’s being questioned about expenditures for
gasoline when the wounded warrior does not drive or own a car, but
the fuel was used to transport the veteran;
-
Several instances of mothers, who are full-time
caregivers to wounded veterans, being required to pay rent to the
veteran rather than residing in the home for “free;”
-
A field examiner denying a mother-caregiver’s
request to replace the (now-wheelchair bound) veteran’s eight
year-old high-mileage truck that she uses to transport him in a
rural, snowy part of the country; and
-
A mother-caregiver having to relinquish her role as
a fiduciary because she had had to declare bankruptcy after
leaving her job to care for her wounded warrior son.
Hon. John J. Hall, Chairman, Subcommittee on
Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
From October 1998 to March 2010, the VA OIG’s Office
of Investigations reports that it conducted 315 fiduciary fraud
investigations, resulting in 132 arrests and monetary recoveries of
$7.4 million in restitution, fines, penalties, and administrative
judgments. One of these cases involved the submission of false
financial reports by a fiduciary who attempted to conceal her
embezzlement of nearly $1 million from 33 disabled veterans whose
accounts she managed. The funds embezzled by the fiduciary were
reportedly used to support her gambling habit.
http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/OpeningStateme
nt.aspx?OSID=10342&Newsid=567&Name=Hon.%
20John%20J.%20Hall,%20Chairman,%20Su
Overall, there is no rational person on our planet
who wouldn’t declare that the Department of Veterans Affairs is
broken and wobbling badly on its axis.
There are moments that it spins completely, insanely
out of control. The backlog of a million claims is one moment. The
politics surrounding additions to the Agent Orange presumptive list
is another moment. The fiduciary process and the total and complete
lack of any accountability by any of the players is another moment.
These are not isolated incidents. There is no
official who can point to all of the evidence and not conclude that
there is a distinct pattern of abusive and often criminal behavior
that is accepted within the fortress-like walls of your VA.
There is no argument to say that the system works,
none...it clearly does not. It causes more harm and wastes more
money than if there were no fiduciary program at all.
Now what?
The OIG seems your only hope. Write to the VA OIG and
let them know your story of neglect and suspicious activities that
are known to you. Overall the VA OIG is an impotent paper tiger and
has no bite but with enough of you telling your story, you never
know.
We stopped the illegal shredding of your most
important documents, maybe you can convince OIG to bring this to a
halt too.
UPDATE
This was only to be 2 parts. I’ve received notice a
couple of hours ago from a Texas reader that goes;
“I (have investigated the fiduciary scam here before)
and found that there are several homes in the Waco area whose owners
are either kin or they are friends, they all keep veterans in their
homes, they are registered with the state, and are paid by the VA
for each veteran, AND, they are writing up wills on these veterans,
giving their money to their families and themselves. I have...wills
in my possession. One veteran had approximately 1 million dollars
in his estate, another had over $300,000. I have proof of the
kinship, copies of the wills and contact information on the families
involved. I'm looking forward to speaking with you soon.”
And speak with me soon she shall.
Can this be true? Can a Waco/Houston fiduciary really
be earning $350.00 per month for his small services to Rick as well
as other veterans? Is it the water they drink there? I’ll let you
know the facts as I find out what’s wrong in Waco.
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