Company owners fake being disabled vets for government contracts

12-21-2011 • David Edwards via RawStory.com

Each year millions in government funds intended to help veterans get back to work go to firms where owners have lied about being disabled vets, according to government watchdogs.

The federal government sets aside billions in contracts each year for companies considered to be service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB). The program is intended to help returning veterans find employment.

But each year, about $500 million in Veterans Affairs (VA) contracts go to ineligible firms, the VA inspector general’s office has found.

Even after the VA claimed it had increased fraud-prevention controls, the Veterans Affairs inspector general’s office found that 1,800 of the companies awarded contracts were not eligible. At least 70 of those firms have been referred for criminal prosecution.