Federal authorities have arrested a 35-year-old Enfield man accused of altering his Coast Guard discharge paperwork to collect nearly $70,000 in benefits from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
Derrick Brewer was charged Thursday with theft of government funds and making false statements, according to a news release from the U.S Attorney’s office for the District of Connecticut.
In a criminal complaint filed against Brewer, Federal authorities allege he submitted paperwork to the Hartford Department of Veterans Affairs office in March 2018 as part of an application for “service-connected disability benefits,” the release said.
In that application, Brewer submitted a discharge from active duty form, commonly known as a DD-214 in which he claimed he was “honorably” discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard.
But investigators claim Brewer’s discharge form had been “altered”— Coast Guard records show he was discharged under “Other Than Honorable Conditions” as a result of his “convictions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”
Investigators claim Brewer was able to collect $69,584 in VA benefits up until September.
He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson via video conference and was released on $10,000 bond.
The case was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General, Northeast Field Office, and the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the release said.
If convicted, Brewer faces up to 15 years in prison on the two charges.
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October 30, 2020 at 04:36AM
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Feds: CT man collected $70K from VA after altering Coast Guard discharge - CTPost
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