CONVICTED: Missouri business owners claimed to be service-disabled veterans

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THREE ARE CONVICTED OF FRAUD INVOLVING RECOVERY FUNDS

10/4/2012 - Extensive investigations by Inspectors General and U.S. Attorneys resulted in guilty pleas from three Missouri business owners who falsely claimed to be service-disabled veterans in order to win special federal contracts of more than $5 million in Recovery Act funding.

One defendant brazenly pretended to be a service-disabled veteran decorated for combat wounds suffered in the Vietnam War. The other two falsely claimed to be service-disabled vets and also bribed a federal official with $20,000 of goods and services that included “entertainment at a local gentlemen’s club,” according to prosecutors.

All three defendants defrauded the federal government’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program (SDVOSB Program), which awards government contracts to companies owned by service-disabled veterans. All contracts were awarded through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Federal officials state that, when applying for contracts under the SDVOSB Program, Warren K. Parker of Blue Springs, Missouri submitted a resume that fraudulently claimed he was a war hero who had been awarded three Silver Stars and three Purple Hearts, among other citations, for his service in Vietnam. His construction firm was able to win $6.7 million – $4.9 million in Recovery funds – in SDVOSB Program contracts. read more>>>