=============================

• 
  Wichita KS - A disbarred Wichita attorney admitted Monday to embezzling from the veterans whose pension benefit checks she had been entrusted to administer in a case the defense contends only came to light because "the guilt was eating away" at her. Janell Jenkins-Foster, 57, pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement and agreed to pay back the more than $330,600 she had stolen from veterans and their estates. Her defense attorney, Craig Robinson, told The Associated Press outside the courtroom that when Jenkins-Foster first came to him to admit to the thefts, the guilt was deteriorating her health. "I have done something terrible and I have to get it off my chest," Robins said Jenkins-Foster told him. She then recounted to him how she started misappropriating small amounts at first when she got behind on her bills and couldn’t afford the lifestyle she wanted, he said. From those modest thefts, the amounts grew. The Veterans Administration and U.S. attorney’s office did not immediately return messages seeking comment left Monday after close of business.
  

Veterans named in the criminal information filed against her have been reimbursed by the bond companies who had insured Jenkins-Foster when she was the fiduciary of their accounts, her attorney said. Jenkins-Foster now lives in an apartment and has no money left. As part of her plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining three counts against her, although she will still be liable to pay restitution for all the money she embezzled. Prosecutors also agreed to recommend the low-end of sentencing guidelines, with credit for acceptance of responsibility. The former attorney faces up to five years in prison on each of the two counts, although she is likely to get far less, if any, jail time under federal sentencing guidelines. She also faces up to a $250,000 fine. Her sentencing was set for 22 AUG before U.S. District Judge Monti Belot, a federal judge before whom she once practiced. Her case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger, a former classmate of hers. “Source: Boston Hearlad AP article 6 Jun 2011 ++]

• 
  MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft charges against former officials of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) for supposedly defrauding funds earmarked for monthly pensions of veterans worth P26.33 million. Two counts of graft were filed against former PVAO administrator Wilfredo Pabalan and chief accountant Leovegildo Santos, and another was also filed against former administrator Artemio Arugay and consultant Enrique Santos. “The respondents were responsible for the transfer of PVAO funds totaling to P26,327,278.14 from a government accredited bank to a non-accredited bank and for the use of funds for purposes other than the payment of pensions for which the funds were reserved,” the Ombudsman said in its 26-page resolution recommending indictment of all four respondents. The period supposedly covered January to August 2003. State auditors found out that Pabalan signed an agreement allowing Centennial Savings Bank (CSB) to become the “depository entity” of PVAO. The Ombudsman said the agreement was not dated, notarized nor passed the scrutiny of state auditors. Different amounts were withdrawn on different dates, findings showed. “The act of the PVAO officials in opening an account with CSB, a non-accredited bank, facilitated the cash manipulations and transfer of funds from one bank account to another, without complying with the requirements of the law, rules and regulations on proper documentation of government expenditures,” the Ombudsman said. These were the findings of graft investigator Cherry Chiara Hernando that were approved by former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez on September 27, 2010. The charge sheet was only filed on 8 JUN. [Source: ABS-CBN NEWS 8 Jun 2011 ++]
  

• 
  Use threats of violence or harm;
  
• 
  Publish a list of names of people who refuse to pay their debts (but they can give this information to the credit reporting companies);
  
• 
  Use obscene or profane language; or
  
• 
  Repeatedly use the phone to annoy someone.
  

• 
  Falsely claim that they are attorneys or government representatives;
  
• 
  Falsely claim that you have committed a crime;
  
• 
  Falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit reporting company;
  
• 
  Misrepresent the amount you owe;
  
• 
  Indicate that papers they send you are legal forms if they aren’t; or
  
• 
  Indicate that papers they send to you aren’t legal forms if they are.
  

• 
  You will be arrested if you don’t pay your debt;
  
• 
  They’ll seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages unless they are permitted by law to take the action and intend to do so; or
  
• 
  Legal action will be taken against you, if doing so would be illegal or if they don’t intend to take the action.
  

• 
  Give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit reporting company;
  
• 
  Send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency if it isn’t; or
  
• 
  Use a false company name.
  

• 
  Try to collect any interest, fee, or other charge on top of the amount you owe unless the contract that created your debt – or your state law – allows the charge;
  
• 
  Deposit a post-dated check early;
  
• 
  Take or threaten to take your property unless it can be done legally; or
  
• 
  Contact you by postcard.
  

If you have more questions about dealing with debt collectors, check out this video from the FTC at http://www.ftc.gov/multimedia/video/credit/debt/debt-collection.shtm. [Source: MoneyTalksNews Jim Robinson article 3 Mar 2010 ++]

• 
  Any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of such failure;
  
• 
  In the case of any action by an individual, such additional damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding $1,000; or in the case of a class action, such amount for each named plaintiff as could be recovered as the court may allow and such amount as the court may allow for all other class members, without regard to a minimum individual recovery, not to exceed the lesser of $500,000 or 1 per centum of the net worth of the debt collector;
  
• 
  In the case of any successful action to enforce the foregoing liability, the costs of the action, together with a reasonable attorney’s fee as determined by the court. On a finding by the court that an action under this section was brought in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment, the court may award to the defendant attorney’s fees reasonable in relation to the work expended and costs.
  
• 
  A debt collector may not be held liable in any action brought under this title if the debt collector shows by a preponderance of evidence that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid any such error.
  
• 
  An action to enforce any liability created by this title may be brought in any appropriate United States district court without regard to the amount in controversy, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, within one year from the date on which the violation occurs.
  

"Nobody knows how the deals were negotiated, where the money has gone," Rosenbaum tells the Times. However, Rachel Feldstein, associate director of New Directions, a service center on the VA campus with 206 temporary sleep spots for veterans, says the facility "currently has open beds." (She says the center gets about half its money from the Department of Veteran Affairs; the rest is donations.) A Salvation Army "Haven" also on the campus offers more "emergency" beds and temporary rehab programs. But nearby residents can attest: A more permanent solution is needed. About 8,000 homeless vets roam the streets of Los Angeles -- more than any other city in the nation. And each, argues the ACLU, has a particular set of war-grown issues that deserve individual attention.

For more information or help obtaining records:

• 
  Mailing Address: Ohio Veterans Bonus Program (VBP), Post Office Box 373, Sandusky, Ohio 44871 Phone Number: 1-877-OHIO VET (1-877-644-6838).
  
• 
  Lost SRB and DD-214 http://www.archives.gov/veterans/