Thomas Cueto; half million dollar liar
Fully Loaded sends us a link to WBOY about Vietnem veteran and West Virginia resident, Thomas Cueto, who took the Veterans Affairs Department for nearly a half-million bucks in compensation for his “disability”;
Cueto, who served in the U.S. Army from 1969, to 1972,including time spent in Vietnam, was awarded disability benefits in 1999 for service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder. Since 1999, Cueto has collected more than $480,000 in VA benefits. The indictment returned Tuesday alleges Cueto of falsely claiming, on his Report of Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States to have earned the following awards: a Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star with V-Device, Purple Heart and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and other misleading documents to show he was injured in combat.
The way it looks is the VA is more willing to give veterans some benefits if they’re lying than the folks who tell the truth. Did I mention that Stolen Valor is a victimless crime? Well, it is, except for American taxpayers, in this instance.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
Of the 1 million legit Vets living in the NYC Metro area, I have met all 10 million of them at the VAMC on 23rd Street in Manhattan.
You know what these guys look like … You can spot them from a mile away.
The VA needs to CLEAN HOUSE.
Master Chief…Roger That! +100
That’s what happens when the VA just takes whatever the “veteran” gives them at face value without doing any checking on it’s own.
I don’t get it with the VA. I filed a travel pay voucher for an follow up on cataract surgery, my eyes were watery and I had a hard time seeing small print without my reading glasses. I apparently missed the little box with my birthdate and the mode of travel. I had to resubmit. The SSA and name everything else there, they could have figured it out. O.K. my bad, when I filed my Agent Orange cancer claims back in 2003, I used the online filing (Vonapp)? Anyway, I did not have to submit any documents other than medical record release from my civilian docs. The VA obtained my SMR and DD-214. It was only a matter of 3 months before I had the claim approved with retro. That method does not allow to forge any documents by the claimant since the VA deals directly with the record keeping agency. I continue to read about these cases of fraud, maybe I am just missing something?
Your case is the way it should work. In mine I was told to submit a copy of my DD-214 with my claim. Maybe it depends on the region the veteran files a claim in?
Phildo’s idol.