When You Think You Can’t Be Shocked …

The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs uncovers, investigates and helps bring to justice all types of criminals for all types of crimes. But sometimes the details are surprising and especially appalling.

This is a new charge: forced labor. Specifically, the charges were forced labor, slave labor trafficking and theft of government funds. In the scam, four people obtained the labor and services of an Indian national and kept him a prisoner by use of force and threats of force against his family back in India. They were arrested late last year on the slave labor trafficking charges.

Then it was discovered that the ringleader, a former U.S. Army veteran, and his wife had been collecting caregiver support money from the VA, falsely claiming the veteran was unable to care for himself, that he couldn’t walk, cook, shop, manage finances and medicine, take a bath by himself nor do anything else. They claimed caregiver funding for his care for four years before being caught. There were 47 counts alone of stealing government funds, as well as the counts for labor trafficking and forced labor.

Very appalling, besides the theft of government money, was that the kidnapped person was a young man here in the country on a student visa sponsored by the veteran. The kid was brought here to go to college but was instead held captive and physically abused, forced to sleep on the concrete floor in the basement.

Thankfully, a neighbor called police asking for a wellness check, during which the young captive was able to get to the front door to safety when the police showed up. He was hospitalized and found to have both old and new injuries, including open wounds and broken bones as a result of reportedly being beaten with boards, pipes, metal rods and more. The judge in his wisdom denied all the criminals bail.

Most disturbing, however, is knowing that it was a veteran who was behind all the violence.