Steven Mickey Bunker; stolen valor pays off for a little while
Steven Mickey Bunker convinced Veterans’ Affairs that he was paralyzed from his service in Iraq, so they ended up paying him $159,000, including $40,000 for an adaptive vehicle which he promptly traded in for a Hummer. This guy is pure class, according to the Washington Times article.
His story caught the attention of federal officials after the Myrtle Beach Sun News wrote a story on Mr. Bunker and then received multiple complaints that Mr. Bunker was not telling the truth.
Mr. Bunker is also facing several other charges, including the fact that he didn’t register as a sex offender after committing or attempting to commit a lewd act with a 16-year-old; and lied about prior felony convictions in order to purchase guns.
In addition to the maximum of 15 years, Mr. Bunker is facing a $250,000 fine. His mother and stepfather also pled guilty to charges that they helped him carry out the fraud.
They can’t keep their phony stories out of the news and the journalists just sit around and wait for veterans to do their job for them. And a large number of the phonies seem to be sexual predators. Funny about that, heh?
And apparently, you’ll get your disability approved at the VA faster if you lie about the circumstances of your injuries.
Category: Phony soldiers
And yet actual veterans languish and die through the inaction of the VA. I suppose they’re too busy handing money out to fakes to deal with real veterans.
What is there left to be said about the moronic incompetent bureaucratic boobs that run the VA that hasn’t been said before ?
We keep repeating it until somebody listens?
It really is a national shame that this sort of thing happens at all much less that it happens frequently. A disgrace.
So I take it that Mr Stay-Puft was never in the military.
Is THIS Stolen Valor?!?!?
Wikipedia has NO mention of Mr Stay Puft *EVER* being in the Navy…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_Puft_Marshmallow_Man
“We’ve been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft’s okay! He’s a sailor, he’s in New York; we get this guy laid, we won’t have any trouble!”
$40,000.00 for a vehicle? How in the hell did he swing that? The last time I checked, less than two years ago, the VA vehicle grant was a one-time (in your life) grant of just under 20k … like 18k and change.
WTF is going on at the VA?
From the VA Website: http://www.benefits.va.gov/COMPENSATION/claims-special-auto-allowance.asp
Automobile Allowance
Servicemembers and Veterans may be eligible for a one-time payment of not more than $18,900 toward the purchase of an automobile or other conveyance if you have certain service-connected disabilities.
This pisses me the fuck off. I’m a 100% Service Connected (higher functioning) quadriplegic and the VA would never give me 40k for a vehicle.
WTF?
Is there no one in the VA that knows their own rules and regulations? Is no one double checking paperwork?
Gravel: I’m guessing the additional amount was for “adaptive equipment”. That can be granted separately from the $18.9k vehicle grant, and can be granted more than once.
I’m also guessing that the dealer may have charged a “significant premium” (e.g., price gouged like hell) for that equipment if they charged an additional $21,100 for installing same. Hopefully Federal authorities are investigating that aspect as well.
I work for one of the larger CJDR dealerships in SW OK. Because of it’s rarity, most dealerships aren’t set up to install automobility products like lifts and ramps, etc. Auto makers also have special discounts for buyers who need these automobility upfits.
In addition, the VA (in this case) provides the buyer a list of authorized installers in his/her area that can do the work.
Way to buy into the stereotype, Hondo.
No buying into any stereotype, LebbenB. There are reputable people and dishonest ones in each profession. Given this guy’s propensity for criminal activity and finding accomplices, it wouldn’t have surprised me to find out that he’d found a dealer of questionable ethics and offered them a “kickback” since Uncle Sam was footing the bill.
I also wasn’t aware that that type of mods were quite that expensive – thankfully, due to no personal/family experience with same. I’d have guessed maybe $10k tops. And I’d have been wrong.
The equipment is expensive, yes. But it pales in comparison to the labor. Many automobility devices require substantial reworking, replacement and modification to the vehicle’s electrical and mechanical systems. It adds up to a pretty hefty bill for the buyer.
There are a lot of checks and balances in place to keep new car dealerships from getting “kickbacks” as you describe. First there’s the dealership’s accounting office, which re-looks the numbers prior to punching any car deal as sold. Second there’s the manufacturer itself, which will conduct audits periodically through the year. Third, the financial institution that the dealer floorplans through will also conduct it’s own audit. These audits are the automotive equivalent of no-knock warrants. The auditors simply show up at the dealership and start going through the inventory and the paperwork.
So it’s very hard for a dealer, manager or sales rep to massage the numbers these days.
Used cars are a different animal…
Want me to get in on the fight? Cause goddamn it, I’ll wring all their little necks for denying you!! Seriously. That ticks me off.
OK, first … just to clear it up. I’ve not been approved or denied the 18,900. I am saving the use of that grant for if/when I really need it.
Second, yes, as Hondo points out, there are additional grants that could be taken into consideration, but the author of the article doesn’t expound upon that. I did email him and ask for further information.
Third. I’m guessing that there was no gouging, as 40k would be the low end of an adaptive equipped mini-van. I drive a full sized Chevrolet Suburban and it was way more than 40k purchased and equipped. And that’s with a huge discount through Chevrolet. I don’t know how Ford or Dodge work their plans, but Chevrolet’s is (or at least was) extremely generous.
Anyway, I hope that 40k was the entire cost of the vehicle, INCLUDING additionally granted modifications. Otherwise I smell a rat.
I’ll defer to your expertise on the cost of adaptive mods, Gravel. $21k simply seemed high to me, but I guess it isn’t.
I still hope Federal authorities check that out, though. Given this guy’s track record and the fact he apparently had accomplices in other aspects of the VA fraud, I wouldn’t be shocked to find out he’d found a shady dealer willing to “help him out” with a “really good deal” to get a few extra $$$.
Just a side note: There is a picture of me with “Beast” on the members-photos section here on TAH.
Actually, that’s a lie. I have been declined the vehicle grant.
But that was my fault, not the VA’s.
When I bought my Suburban I was told by my local service rep-officer to just pay cash for the truck and then file for reimbursement. That it would save me a lot of hassle.
DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY.
The VA only pays to the dealership, and there are certain forms the dealership has to fill out.
That was my fault because I listened to an idiot, and did not check the facts out.
Anyway, still saving that one-time-use for later.
Gravel: if any of the cost was for “adaptive equipment”, you might be able to recoup part of that. The VA adaptive equipment allowance can be paid to either the buyer or seller – and can be paid more than once.
Your call, but it might be worth trying again if you can get an itemized bill of any adaptive mods and it’s been less than 6 years (I think that’s as far back as retroactive claims can be filed – could be wrong, though.)
Gravel, can you e-mail me? Jonn can give you my addy. I’d like to talk to you about your truck. I saw it in the pics and have a few questions I[d like to ask you about it.
ArmyATC
Feel free to email me at
paul dot christian at frontier dot com
No spaces, of course.
Got it, thanks!!
The addy didn’t work. Can you shoot me an e-mail at mlmaynard1@yahoo.com
Just got home. Email sent
So let me get this straight, this guy is a career criminal, from a family of career criminals, who never served in the military but just walks on in to the VA and claims service connected disability and the VA just starts doling out bennies?? And apparently doling out bennies that are above and beyond what you actually rate as a disabled veteran. Is that a fair take on this?
What the fuck did he show them as proof of service, a decoder ring? Jesus H. Christ, why is nobody from that VA office getting their guts stomped out, or at least terminated?
How the fuck did this turd pass muster?? Did he just appear at the VA, said “I’m paralyzed from Iraq, pay me” and money started flowing?? I just don’t understand how this happens. And it happens over and over again.
I hope and pray that justice is served and this turd does the full 15 years. But there will be some asshole judge out there who doesn’t think this is that big of a deal and will give him time served and stern warning and Bunker will be out running another scam in no time.
What the fuck did we fight for??
I am so in your corner!!
The thing is, no where in the Washington Times story, do they state that he was never in the military. The would be a pretty big omission. Has a FOIA been dropped on this guy then? If he really did serve that’s even worse.
Master Guns, I’m with you. But, he is a sex offender (he likes kids) and probably won’t make the full 15 without be isolated from the rest of the prison population. It would be a miracle if he made it out after 15 years…
“It would be a miracle if he made it out after 15 years…”
I like your scenario a lot better than mine HMCS(FMF)!!!
Ticklemonster.
This one really pisses me off. I’m a 100% veteran who’s been fighting the VA for almost ten years now. The last three years has ben with appeals, trying to get eh home and auto grant. That this POS was able to waltz in and get everything he wanted makes me see red. Fucking VA. It seems there is absolutely no oversight of that agency.
I know this piece of trash. He was in the army for a little while. He is a con and a child molester. He has done it repeatedly and when one tells the police about it, they just tell her oh well. He and his wife who is mexican was living high on the hog.Vacations all the time. New York City, Washington,Texas, Disney,Florida. Bought houses in Texas ,NC and SC.Had a RV that was one of the large nice ones. He only pretended he was paralyzed when he went to the VA and out in public. He needs to be put in prison for life because of all the peoples lives he has nessed up. Stealing money from retired people and spending it on himself. And yes his whole family is like this.Jean and Tommy Martin lies and covers for him all the time. He just needs to go away. Does any body know where a victim can go they he molested considering she was afraid to say anything until later? And there was never anything wrong with but but greed.
Since there are already Federal issues in play, I would think a call to the FBI would be in order if you have further concerns to be investigated.
Good morning TaH!
This person goes under the category of: Tool
What a p.o.s.
MGySgtRet, OWB: the VA obviously screwed the pooch on this one. But the VA is pretty much screwed whichever way they go in such cases.
If they demand extensive proof – that takes time. Then they get bad publicity from VSOs and the press for “taking too long to help deserving vets”.
If they don’t demand extensive proof and/or expedite claims, they often (IMO) approve grifters and frauds who don’t deserve squat, or approve claims far in excess of reality.
Either tack the VA takes gets them in trouble. I personally wish they’d be absolute hardasses on initial claims to avoid undeserving assholes like this guy “working the system”. But when they do, the press jumps on them bigtime. And so does Congress.
I wouldn’t take Shinseki’s job if someone had a brain-cramp and tried to give it to me. IMO, it’s truly a no-win job.
Hondo…You and the others help me out here. So is there a place called DD-214S-Ar’-US or something? Where does he get even minimal paperwork to get in the front door and get seen? He doesn’t strike me as the genius sort but maybe he is a photoshop wiz at making documents. Somewhere, someone at the VA in processing center has to know that a DD-214, issue date 1958, is not valid for a service man his age. Thankfully I have never had to deal with the VA. I feel bad for Gravel and other vets depending on them for health care. There has to be a better middle ground here.Men like Gravel and many, many others are getting screwed while guys like this are getting rich. Pisses me off.
Sparks: reputedly, they’re fairly easy to acquire. And there’s always the low-tech version of (literal) cut and paste and a photocopier.
This is precisely why IMO the VA should NOT accept a damn thing given directly to them by a vet. Docs are simply too easy to fake.
Further: these days, too few know what “right looks like” – particularly from 20 or 30 years ago. And there are also plenty more claims today than ever before (I’ve read somewhere that the rate of those leaving the service submitting VA claims is around 40%; historically, I believe 15-20% was the norm).
We’re also seeing an aging population (Vietnam, Gulf War) put in claims at a relatively high rate as minor conditions worsen with time, along with new things (various Gulf War era conditions, oil smoke exposure, Agent Orange) become recognized as presumptive claims. So I’m guessing each claim now gets less individual scrutiny than previously.
Thanks Hondo. I agree they should verify records with other than what a person walks in with.
Hondo’s right, and that’s not even the easiest way. There’s websites all over the interwebz that sell blank DD-214’s. You can buy them on eBay for 20 bucks.
Would going private help? Because really, when has the fucking government gotten anything right of late?
Hell no! I’ve seen the work of some of those contractors. While many may be honorable and ding the right thing by the veterans, there are a number who aren’t doing their jobs. There is no oversight by the VA. My own story is from the Voc Rehab program. I was put into the program and given a contract case manager who I met twice. This person gave me no guidelines on what I was supposed to do. Within four months I was given a new case manager who I met once. Again, I had no idea what I was supposed to do, other than volunteer with a local charity group. I was working as a volunteer with my counties VSO anyway, so I assumed that would count. with one month left on my initial year in the program I was suddenly given a new case manager. I never met this person and we only talked on the phone once, yet this manager said I had passed the program and was ready to move on.
“Would going private help?”
As a former contractor, I say NO. It seems to me this is a matter of accountability. I saw almost zero accountability while I was contracting, which I know is only anecdotal.
In my mind, Contractor accountability = Government Employee accountability.
Witness Healthcare.gov and etc. Piss poor govt. oversight and no accountability from the so called producers from the private sector.
I concur, GDContractor. I’d be very hesitant to give $84+ billion to a contractor (the VA budget for Compensation/Pension/Readjustment this year) and say, “Here – give it to folks who claim they were hurt while in the military. Figure out who qualifies and who doesn’t.”
For good or bad, some things are inherently government responsibilities and should NOT be contracted out.
I. AM. PISSED. OFF.
And he was getting away with it too. But, like most of these phonies, he went full retard and had to try for just a little bit more. With his past felony convictions and present gun buying shenanigans, you’d have thought he would have been more careful. Fortunately, brains not required for most of these weeds. Glad they got some nice firearms convictions on him and his ‘family’ as well as the fraud. Anyone find a link to the original article? I wanted to read what caused the outcry on the worm. Think The Sun must have took it down as I can’t find it. At least they reported him and helped get him off the streets. And TAH famous.
Re; Some of the comments about showing up at the VA and getting immediate benefits.
This is not how the system works. You have to file a claim (either online through the VA website, or by filling out paper forms) and then you send your documents into the regional claims office handling your claim. For me it was the Roanoke, Virginia, office.
The documents and paperwork are all reviewed at the regional claim office, NOT at a VA hospital or clinic.
I’d say that the 159,00 dollars (in addition to the 40k for the vehicle) was probably a back-pay check. The VA disability pay doesn’t start at the time of approval. Rather, it starts from the date the paperwork is submitted.
So let’s say this guy receives a 100% Service Connected rating with an R.1 SMC (Special Monthly Compensation) then divide that 159,000 by $7,000 (roughly what a he would receive monthly with that rating) and you get 22. That 22 would be the amount of months he waited to get approved, which is about on par with current wait times. So after 22 months he probably received a back-pay check for 159,000 dollars.
Just my hypothesis anyway.
Gravel, I should not have been so flip about him just waltzing in the door and getting paid. But just the fact that he was able to go through the process and end up getting paid says some disturbing things about the tactics, techniques and procedures at the VA.
And the fact that this turd fakes the funk and gets paid should be enough to shoot the brown star cluster. On top of veterans dying from neglect at various VA locations around the country. We have an obvious problem and it is not being addressed.
Honestly I didn’t take it as flippant. I took it as pissed off, like I am 🙂 and rightly so.
But I also wanted to make sure that the people here know it’s not as simple as just rolling into a VA hospital or clinic and wham, bam, thank you ma’am, benefits established.
A “Phildoesque” dude.
And the VA pays this clown while hundreds of the wounded boys get their claims downgraded on technicalities.
I am telling you. Give Willie Clark a call.
Heh. Hopefully, William Derek Church gets nailed too.
There’s overt theft like this guy and then there’s contracting theft in which someone makes claims that they know can’t be verified and then builds a government contracting business around it. It’s the John Giduck model at work…without the expense of even traveling to Beslan several weeks after the fact.
False claims make fraudsters money through a variety of means. If only bull riding gloves could make them all so obvious.
This dude needs a cold, steel beatdown.
The only silver lining in this pitch black cloud is that the turd is going to prison. As a convicted child molester, unless he’s segregated from the general population, it’s a good bet he won’t survive his prison term.
What VA system signed off on this guy?
That is the million dollar question right there!!
WTF am I doing wrong? I exploded a knee and crushed 3 vertabrae in my back and Medicalled out as an E-6 with 13 years because I could no longer pass a PT test after my injuries. This was in 2003 and I did not see combat. I got a 10% lump sum from the Army for my disability and I’m rated at 40% at the VA and paying back $129.00 per month for the 10% disability lump sum the Army gave me. I’m getting by okay but how in the hell do these goombas get all this monetary compensation and I have to pay the government back after they kicked me out for being broken?
Did this guy actually serve in Iraq?
I just received an email from the author of the article in the Washington Times, Mr. Phillip Swarts.
I emailed Mr. Swarts about the 40,000 dollar figure and he was kind enough to check his sources and reply. I quote the pertinent information below.
“… Part of the money was the vehicle grant, and the other part was for upgrades and alterations to the vehicle to make it more accessible for the conditions Mr. Bunker said he had.”
So there we have it. And thanks to Mr. Swarts for such a timely response to my emails. It was (and is) very much appreciated.