VA official’s scheme led to sham payments

A Honolulu Veterans Affairs supervisor improperly ordered staff to electronically tamper with 143 claims for benefits, allowing veterans to receive money for dependents who were not eligible, according to the VA’s inspector general.

The unnamed supervisor admitted removing system controls on electronic records beginning in 2014 and has since resigned, according to the inspector general’s report.

As a result of the supervisor’s actions, some "veterans may have continued to receive additional compensation for dependents that they were not entitled to receive," according to the report.

The Associated Press reported that the supervisor was manipulating data to make it look like the agency was processing veterans’ benefits claims faster than it actually was, removing controls in the electronic record that are used to track and identify the progress of claims. The data manipulation happened as there was heightened scrutiny nationwide over how long veterans were waiting to see doctors.

While the electronic records altered in Hono­lulu dealt with benefits claims, not medical appointments, the finding underscores that there are ongoing problems within the system.

Regarding the supervisor’s actions, Brent Arronte, director of the San Diego Benefits Inspection Division of the VA Office of Inspector General, told the Associated Press, "It made his performance measures for his team look better than they actually were."

According to the report, "The supervisor admitted to removing controls from the electronic record but stated it was not his intention to misrepresent data. He indicated he wanted his team to work on the most difficult aspects of their workload and he did not want to provide them with easy work associated with the control he removed."

In one case the supervisor’s "inappropriate" actions may have been driven out of a desire to help one veteran who was struggling to pay his rent. The supervisor contacted the veteran’s landlord and asked whether eviction proceedings could be halted if the supervisor could get the veteran more money, according to the report.

The supervisor then instructed an employee to modify the veteran’s disability payments to provide him with more monthly benefits. The scheme involved reducing the veteran’s $40,000 separation pay but allowing him to receive additional monthly benefits.

When confronted, the supervisor told investigators "he hoped his actions would be viewed as an attempt to assist a veteran in need," according to the report.

The VA benefits office in Hono­lulu operates separately from the Spark Matsu­naga VA Medical Center — the VA’s primary hospital in the Pacific, located on the grounds of Tripler Army Medical Center. At one point the VA hospital had the longest wait times in the entire VA system for new patients to be seen by a primary physician.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a captain in the Hawaii National Guard who served two combat tours, said the inspector general’s report highlights how Veterans Affairs "really continues to fail when it comes to accountability and ensuring that there is a true change of reform in this culture of corruption. We’ve been reassured many times that our Hono­lulu VA office is doing everything to the letter of the law, but they were not. It once again reveals a lack of true standards, transparency and accountability."

Much of the inspector general’s investigation focused on the supervisor’s handling of a questionnaire seeking information on spouses or children that veterans are required to complete. Veterans who do not fill out the questionnaire are supposed to be tracked by VA staff to determine whether they are receiving benefits they’re not entitled to.

The investigation that began in October found that the supervisor inappropriately removed the electronic record controls that would flag questionnaires that had not been updated, which allowed payments to continue.

The supervisor also ordered staff to deviate from VA policy that requires them to send letters notifying veterans that their benefits would be reduced if they did not fill out the dependent questionnaires, according to the report.

Instead, the supervisor created different letters that did not properly inform the veterans how much their monthly pay would be reduced.

Patrick Zondervan, acting director of the VA Regional Office Hono­lulu, said in an email to the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser that VA "staff took corrective actions on all cases improperly processed. … Further, staff received training related to processing dependency claims and due process. The supervisor that took the improper actions related to dependency claims resigned his position."

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.