A California man has been handed a prison sentence for conning the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) out of a staggering $105 million. Philip Abod, a 57-year-old from Calimesa, played his part in what has become the largest known fraud case involving the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits by duping the VA over bogus claims of veteran enrollment and attendance in technical training programs.
Abod's deceptions, along with those of his co-conspirators, included making false representations about veterans' enrollment and falsifying course completion records to give the appearance of completed programs, when in fact they had not. The school fraudulently obtained more than $32 million in tuition payments from the VA between January 2012 and June 2022 and the VA separately doled out more than $72 million in benefits to the supposedly enrolled veterans. The scheme also involved falsifying contact information to thwart regulatory oversight; Abod and his cohorts even went so far as to impersonate students when regulatory bodies made inquiries.
For his role in this elaborate charade, Abod has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison and is on the hook for $3.4 million in restitution payments to the VA, as detailed in a Justice Department release. His partners in crime, Michael Bostock and Eric Bostock, received five years and one year and a day in prison, respectively for their participation in the same fraudulent scheme.
The investigation led by the VA Office of Inspector General, with support from the Veterans Benefits Administration-Education Service, unraveled the complex web of lies these men weaved to pilfer taxpayer dollars meant for the education of America's service members. "This case is a stark reminder that fraud against our veterans is not just a crime against individuals but a crime against our entire nation," stated Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri. Following the sentencing, Trial Attorney Lauren Archer from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section has been credited with bringing the case to a close.
