Former VA Executive Guilty Of Felony
One former VA executive just pled guilty to a felony for failure to disclose over $50,000 in gifts from a lobbyist while serving as head of Phoenix VA. That lobbyist was a former Veterans Health Administration executive prior to running to the dark side of D.C.
Sharon Helman, former director of Phoenix VA, pled guilty last week for providing a false financial disclosure concerning gifts from lobbyist Dennis “Max” Lewis. The maximum penalty for such a felony is five years in prison, but the plea deal was for probation instead.
RELATED: Lobbyist Fired For Gifts To Helman
VA EXECUTIVE PLEA DEAL
Helman joins a long line of VA executives caught in an illegal scheme who have successfully evaded prison. Let’s hope she gave the feds something to work with against other wrongdoers to score at least a few prison sentences.
Helman denied involvement of patient-scheduling manipulation but was ultimately fired for falsification of financial disclosure documents. The Merit Systems Protection Board upheld her termination for the records falsification.
The US Attorney’s Office said that Helman failed to disclose:
- $19,300 in gifts including an automobile in 2013
- $32,000 plus Beyonce tickets and Disneyland tickets in 2014
Lewis worked for the Jefferson Consulting Group as vice president when the gifts were made and was terminated from employment when the scandal surfaced. While at VHA, Lewis was Helman’s boss. His role at the company was to represent the interests of companies marketing services and goods to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Cwynar said:
“Although this plea agreement calls for a term of probation, making a false financial disclosure to the federal government is a felony and will permanently attach to Ms. Helman’s record.”
VA OIG chimed in:
“This prosecution holds Ms. Helman accountable. We hope it will deter any other government executives who may be tempted to conceal this type of information.”
Think this kind of accountability is strong enough to make government executives think twice?
So they have prosecuted a few of the V.A.’s criminals, why not get them all? I receive care from the Denver V.A. Hospital and was placed on a waiting list for pulmonary care, a sleep study to be exact, yes the Denver V.A. had a waiting list for sleep studies and the Director of the Denver V.A. Hospital was aware of this wait list but shortly after the list was announced Director Lynette Roff announced her retirement. Not only was she allowed to retire, she was allowed to retire with a $300,000 bonus she received for maintaining quality care numbers which the pulmonary numbers contributed to using the waiting list numbers! That makes her a thief in my book! To date no charges have been filed against her!
The Denver director may have retired. But she did not run the Denver vamc.
The chief of staff runs the facility. The new director.is just a figure head !
They need to go after him and all his buddies and the disruptive committee that he runs !
This person punished me through the disruptive committee and never required proof of the disruptive behavior !
Which the former director responded to senator’s Bennett’s office. That due to the disruptive behavior that was reported about me !
That no action.was taken against me. Due to the disruptive behavior reporting !
The chief of staff.sent me letters and he authorized the punishment and threaten me.with federal charges and arrest and banishment from all VA care !
If they Ever hear that I become disruptive again or do not corporate with my treatment team !
They know that I was reported as being disruptive. By one of their employees. As a retaliation act from when. I worked for the VA. !
The chief of staff.is dangerous and needs to be fired or put in jail for falsely accusing me of the disruptive behavior !
They admit there is not one shread of evidence. Can not produce any evidence and yet he and his gang punished me and continues to threaten me. !
This committee has no right to punish veterans. ! Disruptive behavior is a criminal matter and only the justice department. Has the authority to determine if the veterans actually disruptive in the first place. !
The way it stands now. Any veteran can be accused and punished and the veterans can’t fight back. !
All the veterans civil and constitutional rights are taken away. !
Hey all!
Right now, Ben is on Blogtalkradio dot com on the Stand For Truth with Susan Knowles…lie now but can stream it from site late.
“Join your host, Susan Knowles of Stand For Truth Radio as I welcome my guest Attorney BENJAMIN KRAUSE. We will be talking about the VA and VETERANS’ issues. So invite veterans and others who you believe will benefit from an hour jam packed with information on issues that impact many but may not be known by many in the general public.”
Ben is digging deeper into the VA’s toxic rat maze. Thought all would want to know.
and this POS is only the tip of the iceberg of corruption!!!!
Will make them bolder ! Make as much as you can on the backs of Veterans. !
Probation.real incentive. !
Now it’s time to reveal how she feloniously received millions of dollars in the same manner over the years.
Remember: “Nothing in politics is a coincidence!”
This video is from the “Christian Video Channel”
titled:
“Ted Cruz – Wolf in Sheep Clothing!”
It started in 1981 with Reagan. Concerning a “Form of a NWO”, (New World Order), similar to the EU, (European Union)! It will consist of Canada, U.S.A. and Mexico!
The people involved in it are well known in today’s politics!
It’s backed by many reliable investigative journalists. And many articles to substantiate all claims or allegations!
I hope y’all google this. Enjoy, or maybe not, what’s occuring by opening our boarders to everyone – NAFTA!
Ted Cruz? You mean Grandpa Munster who cost the government a trillion dollars when he shut the government down? Yeah, he’s presidential material.
Fortunately, Sanders is the Repub’s man and Trump is the Dem’s man. Checkmate, Hillary wins.
Hillary’s “time” may be shorter than y’all think!
quite right you are! I am a native Texan so I should know. My husband (1946-2010) was in the 82nd Airborne AllAmerican. NONE of us-my husband,myself, nor our five children saw a dime of his 100% VA disability. We even went to the VA claims office to file in 1985. “Oh- she is not at her desk now” . Same thing when we tried later via phone. Sometimes they would try to be a little more creative- “Oh the benefits officer is on vacation & wont be back for two weeks”. Then we requested the proper forms to be sent to our house and we would fill them out & submit them. “Will do” they said. We never heard back from them. Our five children missed out on social security as well as VA benefits. What makes it even more despondent – with each progressive child we had the Agent Orange manifests became more apparent. On 14 March 2016 my youngest daughter will go for consultation for the degenerative condition on her upper spine. Years ago an MRI image showed her disc to be that of a 70 woman but she was only in her twenties. Now more lumps are cropping up there & they want to do the laser spine surgery. I even have quallms about that too. I cannot begin to tell you how hard the seven of us had it when the TX VA did not help us. They turned their backs on a sweet vulnerable family. Guess who received his benefits after he died- his greedy family. They wanted him to have me committed and the children farmed out. ( back in ’86). I would never have known about this until I asked him one day to enlist the help of his brother, who worked in the TX govt.to help us receive the Agent Orange benefits. That is when he told me. I was so shocked I didn’t see his family again until 2010. There are more details to this story but for my own safety and survival this is all I can state at this time. I am quite tense in submitting this much information. My prayers go out to the sweet Souls in my Country. To those involved in the dissolution of the USA I say you will first have to deal with God.
This may or may not deter others. I assume it depends on how close they may be to retirement and whether they have some high salaried, do nothing job lined up if they get caught. They would measure the risk on getting caught over whether they could slide into that job even with a felony record.
What would have deterred others is loss of pension and prison time.
At least it prevents her from being shuffled off to another VA. Or should.
@91veteran-
**Nothing** seems to stop or slow down these “VA Player’s Club” type from ‘sliding’ wherever they wish, no matter what.
I remember college biology showed that in nature, Slugs and Maggots have similar qualities of survival.
These VA Employees must have asses made of Teflon. 🙂 Vets get the old iron skillet that’s rusty.
Add Tetanus and MRSA to that iron skillet. Silly me to forget these key ingredients.
What we need is another Church Commission. Google it. It put the fear of G-d into the intelligence, Special Ops, and related communities. It even affecting NYPD.
They went so far as to ask former LRRP’s about activities. They asked a friend of my mom’s on NYPD some interesting questions. All under supeona. Serpico years.
Anything less than that or a major defunding of the VA with ALL vets given CHAMPVA which is a PROVEN vehicle for the VA providing outside medical care for disabled vets dependents….this will continue.
One of Trumps advisers when told about CHAMPVA asked me to explain it. They had never heard of it but the logical question was “why create a new program instead of just expanding a working program”?
Money. Outside contracts to favored companies and needing too much red tape to use it. CHAMPVA is like MEDICARE. Need it, use it.
@Robin Mitchell
It’s like what I’ve been saying;
Too many people, lobbyists and pacs, getting involved and paying “bribes” (y’all may disagree with this word. But that IS what it should be called – “BRIBERY”) to our elected and appointed officials for decades.
These individuals are what’s causing our country to slide into an cavern of no return. Unless WE THE PEOPLE take it back!
Your idea, along with many others, to use a “proven healthcare system”, ie; CHAMPVA. Is, and should be looked at by every one of our elected and appointed officials.
Yet, until legislation, by Executive Order, is brought to being. Outlawing lobbyists, pacs and superpacs from purchasing our so-called elected and appointed officials from voting in ridiculous laws. Nothing will change.
In my opinion, our next POTUS should make illegal for any elected and appointed or hired official to accept anything from these vile predators! That is what they are:
“VILE PREDATORS!”
They “OWN” our POTUS, Congress, Senate and everyone else.
Today’s blog by Mr. Ben Krause is a very good example of this! Sharon Helman is a great example of being “bought and paid for” by a lobbyist to “look the other way, while veterans DIED under her watch!” She should be sitting in prison. Instead of being allowed to go home!
You got it on CHAMPVA. Favored contractors that are politically connected.
I’m sure you’ve seen my comments before on HealthNets board of Directors, retired Congressman George Miller and his connections to Pelosi.
Since you are in contact with Trumps advisors, you should point them to HealthNets Investor section of their web page, specifically their Form 10-K filing with the SEC.
Many do not know Choice was an initial contract, with 4, 1 year options to extend. The VA thought HealthNet was doing such an awesome job they already extended it one year.
If the VA and Congress were truly concerned over quality of care provided to veterans through Choice, it would not be extended again. Or they would conduct much better oversight of contract performance before extending.
Which makes me curious. Has the VA paid HealthNet any performance bonuses? I would bet they have.
Meanwhile, according to a “Choice champion” at my local VA told me CHAMPVA has been slimmed way back. In favor of Choice.
Speaking of accountability, if you do a search on “VA employee goes on trial”, you get several returns on the thug who beat that elderly veteran to death in LA.
It seems the perp may be getting his trial postponed until September.
The VA claimed it was an accident, but then settled with his sister for $215K. The IG had witnessed give varying explanations, including that the perp slammed the vets head into the wall.
Witnesses. Yet the VA says accident.
Then the VA Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs lied to Congress about what happened.
Meanwhile the perp is still on the VA payroll.
If you search out that news, the report on US News dot com had the most details on what happened.
I agree 110% with namnibor’s observations on this! This IS a “Slap on every veterans face!”
Only, I will take it one step further.
A “lobbyist” showered gifts to a VA employee within the higher ranks (SES) and who knows how many others!
This is exactly the type of corruption we are seeing all across America by our “elected” and “appointed” officials!
Once they’ve received these “ill gotten gains” – they are “bought and paid for!” No longer do they work “FOR THE PEOPLE (Veterans or taxpayers)!”
We’re seeing massive voter fraud. During this, and past, election cycle.
I read something which made perfect sense. (paraphrasing) When both parties are out to stop the front runner, there’s got to be a reason.
Could this reason be because the front runner isn’t “bought and paid for from lobbyists, Superpacs or anyone else?!
Could it be this front runner is bringing issues to the table which would have never been discussed if not for his “brass balls”?!
Could it be this front runner is doing this because he sees the anger and frustrations which, if not handled soon, will erupt and tear this country apart!?
Keep this in mind when y’all vote!
I hope y’all google this. It’s from “the Common Sense Show”
titled;
“Judge Jeanine predicts the end of the GOP if Trumps nomination is stolen”
She has some very harsh words for everyone, especially Mitt Romney!
Enjoy! I certainly did!!!
P.S.
If your not a subscriber to “the Common Sense Show”, by Dave Hodges, I would highly suggest doing so.
“Think this kind of accountability is strong enough to make government executives think twice?”
Not even close!
“Probation” does nothing to hold anyone accountable, let alone does it not make a proper “example” of a VA employee in order to ACT AS a deterrent. This is nothing but the steam from warm dishwater of her corruption steaming-up her glasses momentarily…nothing more.
This is hardly an “accountability” message. This is a classic VA Fart In The Wind.
This effectively announces what ALL the OTHER slap on wrists have done to deter corruption and fraud—nothing. It only serves to reinforce their untouchable state as VA Employees, and Sharon Helman should have at least been required to have her Disney Mouse Ear Hat surgically attached to her “Goofy Head” by a VA Dr. with the serious Monday Morning Shakes or any of the Witch Dr.’s at the VA…and then place her mug WITH “Mouse Ear Hat” at every VAMC/RO entrance as a visual example for ALL to see.
This is the “new VA with accountability” that VA Secretary Robert McDonald promised?!
Farts In The Wind Accountability Dept., or affectionately appropriate acronym: FITWAD, Sloan Gibson’s *newly redefined* accountability, as the VA understands it.
Rant out. FITWAD…brought to you by the VA Spin Cycle on overdrive.