VA entrepreneur Bob Gingell

VA Entrepreneur, GS-15, Got VA To Pay Him To Start Motorcycle Shop

VA entrepreneur Bob Gingell

While claiming sick leave, one sick VA employee turned VA entrepreneur earned six months of sick leave at full pay earning $75,000 while he built his motorcycle business in Virginia.

Robert Gingell, a manager at the Board of Veterans Appeals, took six months off of work claiming he was very sick during 2015. He ultimately retired following the results of an investigation by OIG after working at VA for less than 5 years.

While away, he collected full pay for 22 weeks, which at GS-15 numbers, is around $75,000 or $140,000 per year. During his time away, he built a business called Renegade Classics Northern Virginia while being paid full-time despite being on sick leave.

RELATED: See Gingell’s Harley Motorcycle Shop

So how sick was Gingell when he was too ill to work at the Board but healthy enough to build his business? Did he have to pay the money back that he “earned” while he created the motorcycle shop? Does Gingell’s motorcycle shop look cool?

Before I jump into the full quote of the VA OIG investigation, I think the last paragraph sums up what this senior GS employee did at the Board before he “retired” from his post:

“On September 17, 2015, Mr. Gingell emailed an OGC HR Liaison, with the BVA Chief of HR on copy, and said, “I am writing because I intend to retire in the next few months. At this time I would like my retirement to be effective 2-1-16.” On Friday, September 18, 2015, Mr. Gingell received our OIG administrative subpoena to produce RCNV business records, and on Monday, September 21, 2015, he appeared at an HR Specialist’s office with retirement forms completed and signed, asking that his retirement be effective September 21, 2015.”

RELATED: Alleged Misuse of Sick Leave, Board of Veterans Appeals

SICK VA EMPLOYEE/VA ENTREPRENEUR SCAM?

I will start from last to first.

Robert Gingell’s motorcycle shop looks pretty cool. I have to hand it to guy, he built a nice looking business on the side while too sick to work at the Board. Whatever way he got funding for the operation, he sure built up a solid looking apparel shop based on the photos.

VA OIG confirmed the allegations. OIG closed the investigation after confirming the allegations. Reports from alternative sources show Gingell was able keep the money.

VA OIG also confirmed Gingell was engaged in outside employment while on sick leave.

The really messed up part about this scandal was that after Gingell was basically caught, he put in his retirement papers for 2/1/16, basically six months after he was caught engaged in a fraud earning two paychecks while asserting he was too sick to push paper at BVA.

Here is the OIG summary:

In December 2014, the former (retired) Deputy Director, BVA Office of Management, Planning & Analysis, asked for an ethics opinion from the Office of General Counsel (OGC) concerning Mr. Gingell’s newly formed small business. In January 2015, the Deputy Ethics Official opined that Mr. Gingell’s small business did not appear to conflict with Mr. Gingell’s duties, but in his guidance to Mr. Gingell, he told Mr. Gingell to not make “unauthorized use of official time.” Mr. Gingell replied in an email that he would follow the listed guidelines.

Email records reflected that Mr. Gingell was in regular contact with the Deputy Director concerning his ongoing medical condition requiring sick leave. In February 2015, he began requesting sick leave, due to a cited medical condition. He submitted several physician notes to justify his prolonged absences. For example, on March 20, 2015, he emailed a note that stated he could not return to work until April 13, 2015. Although the heading on the note reflected a legitimate medical practice, the signature on the note was unrecognizable as either of the named practitioners.

By May 2015, the Deputy Director began to question Mr. Gingell’s fitness for duty, and she asked him in an email when he expected to return to work and asked for additional documentation. Mr. Gingell replied, “I’m likely going to either be back in mid-June or after the 4th of July on a limited schedule.” Records reflected that Mr. Gingell was not always timely with his sick leave request, and at times, required prompting by the Deputy Director. On June 15, 2015, the Deputy Director asked him in an email if he had medical documentation to cover his absences, and the next day, he emailed another physician’s note.

On August 13, 2015, Mr. Gingell emailed the Deputy Director to tell her that his physician gave him a letter asking that he “receive a reasonable accommodation and be allowed to work from home.” He said that he forwarded the letter to the BVA Chief of Human Resources (HR) and that since “accommodations take time to process and the letter clearly indicates that I should not be expected to commute I will be using sick leave until the request is acted upon.”

On August 18, 2015, the Deputy Director replied to Mr. Gingell, and she told him, “You separately informed me by email that you are requesting sick leave pending a decision on your [reasonable accommodation] request. I can approve your sick leave but I’ll need medical documentation to do so.” She included attachments for Mr. Gingell to fill out and instructions as to how to proceed with his RA request, including providing medical documentation.

Records reflected that Mr. Gingell failed to provide the Deputy Director and the Chief of HR all the requested information within the Deputy Director’s timeline. On September 4, 2015, she told Mr. Gingell in an email “I also asked you for medical documentation for [sick leave].

You did not provide medical documentation, but did submit a doctor’s statement that you could not commute. If you are actually incapacitated and requesting continuing [sick leave] independent of any reasonable accommodation request, then you need to tell me that, and you must submit (to [Name] as our Chief, Personnel) medical certification that says that you are incapacitated for work and the dates of incapacitation, as soon as possible and within 15 days after this email.” On September 9, Mr. Gingell replied by emailing his sick leave request.

Social media posts reflected that Mr. Gingell worked at RCNV while on sick leave.

Mr. Gingell can be seen working on renovations to his shop in preparation for its March 2015 opening and demonstrating products available at RCNV. On August 20, 2015, a BVA employee emailed the Deputy Director an internet link to an RCNV YouTube video titled,

Bob’s & Helen’s Welcome Video, which featured Mr. Gingell and his wife discussing the eminent grand opening of RCNV. The video was posted on March 23, 2015, and Mr. Gingell’s initial request for sick leave was 5 days prior to this posting.

On September 11, 2015, the Director, Management Planning & Analysis, Board of Veterans’

Appeals, told the Deputy Director in an email, “Please be advised that a Board employee reached out to me today and informed me that he (and a few others) visited Bob’s motorcycle store today, around 3p. The employee reported that he observed Bob working behind the counter.” On a separate occasion, a VA-OIG Investigator observed Mr. Gingell working at RCNV during his duty hours and while on sick leave, engaging him in conversation about specific products in his inventory.

On September 17, 2015, Mr. Gingell emailed an OGC HR Liaison, with the BVA Chief of HR on copy, and said, “I am writing because I intend to retire in the next few months. At this time I would like my retirement to be effective 2-1-16.” On Friday, September 18, 2015, Mr. Gingell received our OIG administrative subpoena to produce RCNV business records, and on Monday, September 21, 2015, he appeared at an HR Specialist’s office with retirement forms completed and signed, asking that his retirement be effective September 21, 2015.

I will say one thing. When will we all apply for a sweet VA job to start our own business? That sounds like the newest SBA fund where you never have to pay back the money or show up to your other job… And, you can retire after working just a couple years.

Let’s start applying to these sweet jobs. I could get paid $140,000 per year to start small business on sick leave and then retire after a couple years. I feel it could really be the start of a new great thing.

What do you think?

Source: https://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/aia/advisory-15-05252-329.pdf

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54 Comments

  1. I can’t blame this scum bag one bit for what he got away with… who I do blame is his supervisors who also ought to be fired for failing to live up to the responsibilities of their office…. Sure this scum bag belongs in jail, as so do many other va employees.

  2. My first question is (and I hope it wasn’t asked above) how many hours of sick leave had he accrued? Additionally, are there laws in place that allow this (crappy loopholes, maybe)? It would ordinarily take a great deal of time to process the necessary steps required to remove him, and I’m sure that the government didn’t want to pursue this because the prosecution could cost far more than the amount he received, or will receive in the future. It states that he retired after 5 years of employment at the VA, but not how many aggregate years he had worked as a federal employee? I’m disturbed by situations such as this, but also of fraudulent behavior of veterans. All of it should be pursued more actively.

    1. There is no question what he did was fraud. He claimed to be unable to return to work for months, but was healthy enough to open his own business?
      It doesn’t matter how many hours of sick leave he accrued, he was in a sick leave status from his job, yet was able to work outside his job.
      If he had sick leave hours and what he did was not fraudulent, why did he resign?
      Keep in mind his job with the VA was not being done while he was pulling this scam. Some of his duties might have been performed by others, but by him doing this, he took up a job where the duties were not being fully performed for months. How many veterans were affected by the delays caused by this thief?

  3. I can guarantee you from experience if this was a lower ranking GS employee…it would have been handled a lot different. Until upper management start being held accountable for their actions this will never stop. ACCOUNTABILITY SHOULD BE NUMBER ONE FOR THE VA.

  4. Perhaps we should write on Google review this investigation? A lot of bikers are veterans and I bet they don’t know of this creep claiming to be sick while he was at his business. Is this permissible? I know Yelp doesn’t allow it.

    Ben?

  5. WOW! I’m just pissed off!! Vets like me who are waiting for the BVA to make a decision on my appeal since 2015, my case been open since 2009!! And this scum bag take federal funds to open a business? If one us have performed this despicable act, the authorities would be at our door step! Do your du process law and lock him up.

    1. Not only did he take Federal funds he is also a manager at the BVA. Notice also that he was paid for six months while he claimed to be sick. Leaving his office unsupervised and not doing any work himself.

      Your claim could be one of the one of the claims sitting on his desk waiting for processing.

    1. I HOPE SO TOO Mary! I hope that the Establishment criminals did surround him with traders to corrupt him!! If so, were are in trouble.

  6. Hey, Seymore,
    That “fuse” you wrote about is getting shorter.
    Check this “Alice goes down the Rabbit Hole” “narrative” by our idiots in government and the news yesterday and reported by “Infowars.com” today, (20 Sept 2016)!

    “Russia Exposes Obama-Hillary Running ISIS, Narrative Wars Defined”

    (19:47 minutes)

  7. I left Mr. Robert Gingell a comment on his Facebook page, within one minute it was deleted lol. I guess he did not like me calling him a thief.

  8. In 2009 i was trying to start a small business on my own time, with my own money (all i had) for teens and family. I was given an illegal drug test in 2010 and have been under 24/7 surveillance for over six years for my efforts. I wish i had gotten a job at the VA.

  9. This Guy had to have a friend or a friend of a friend hire him or a family member getting him hired. !

    VBA. Needs to check every case he handled and see how many denial letters. He sent out. !

    Then check those claim numbers to ensure that those cases. Has been property handled

    And too double check to see if these claim numbers match any authorized claims and see if those fund’s were being paid out and to whom. !

    This Guy I bet knows Diana Rubins and Graves. No matter. Even if they called him in for testimony. He would follow Rubins and Graves lead. !

    I plead the 5th and noting more will ever be required. !

    Now many veterans HAVE been told their claims. Have been denied over and over

    But in fact their claim. Was approved and the fund’s syphoned off into employee bank accounts. !

    You know. He had to know someone in a position to get him hired. He should receive retirement in a prison. !

    Name of the game. ! Flim Flam man. ! Crook. !

    Way to go Bob McDonald. If you fired anyone. You fired the wrong people. !

    The people he fired were more than likely were veterans that were hired temporary and questioned the VA authority or lack of. !

    1. This VA News Release was emailed out today:
      VA Awards $6.8 Billion for Medical Disability Examinations
      09/19/2016 05:03 PM EDT

      The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced the awarding of 12 contracts between 5 firms totaling $6.8 billion to improve the Medical Disability Examination process (Compensation and Pension or Comp and Pen Examinations) for Veterans. The awards are intended to reduce Veterans’ wait times for examinations for service-connected benefits, thereby providing faster claims decisions in a more efficient and streamlined way.

      The firms are:

      *VetFed Resources, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia;
      *Logistics Health, Inc., La Crosse, Wisconsin;
      *Medical Support Los Angeles, A Medical Corporation, Pasadena, CA;
      *QTC Medical Services, Inc., Diamond Bar, California; and
      *Veterans Evaluation Services, Inc., Houston, Texas.

      The contracts will be managed by VA’s Strategic Acquisition Center based in Frederick, MD.

      1. I cannot help but wonder just how much of a hairy ball of wax that will become when the VA denies a claim and it was a 3rd Party Contractor Evaluator? How would that play in the BVA process? Call-in the Contracting Co. to testify? How binding is it? If the VA is training them, then they will be guaranteed to be taught consistently wrong and solves absolutely nothing.

        Why cannot the VA just do **their jobs** and do it consistently correct? $6.8 Billion is a hell of a contract. Wonder how many VA relatives are part of each of those companies? Nepotism R Us.

      2. you know whats going to happen. they’ll be trained like social security disability is: to bring those numbers down & make them claims & people go away.

      3. Well, even Social Security indeed uses an outside contractor called Disability Determination Services, at least here in Ohio and even though I was near death’s door and I have life-long chronic health crap, I was denied 3x from SSA and almost had to wait 3+ years just for an Admn. Judge to look at it and make a decision. My Senator stepped-in and actually helped me get the SSDI and Medicare.
        So with that said, an outside Disability Evaluating Svc. with the VA will do nothing to light a fire under the actual VA employees to work any accurately or faster and I even propose that the VA will become even more lazy and lethargic the less and less they actually do and contract it all out.

        Why don’t we just contract the entire VA out and flush the rats? $6.8 Billion Contract…??? Does the VA have to spend **every** dollar or they lose it each year is that why they are dumping so much cash or is this $$$$ **yet** to be begged for from Tax Payers? Bingo.

      4. One of the contractors named on the list stands out immediately.

        Logistics Health, Inc., La Crosse, Wisconsin

        Isn’t that the company the Candyman from Candyland just started in La Crosse, Wisconsin?

        So, Dr. David Houlihan, (aka the Candyman), supposedly fired from Tomah VAMC, (aka Candyland), makes out like a bandit with a nice new Veterans Administrations contract.

        Given I am without word to explain how I feel about this.

        Just do not know what to say.

        Anyway here are a few pictures from Candyland on another of their wasted days. This time not playing Hungry, Hungry, Hippos to pass the time but instead spending the afternoon collecting pay using the equipment at the VAMC for the annual pumpkin drop. I wonder what day it is this year.

        “https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomahvamc/15602883602/”

        “https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomahvamc/15415415239/”

        “https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomahvamc/15415933138/”

        “https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomahvamc/15578368666/”

        “https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomahvamc/14981303624/”

        “https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomahvamc/14981895663/”

        “https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomahvamc/15416448220/”

        “https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomahvamc/15415413689/”

      5. Nice catch, Seymore Klearly!!! Now, how could The Candyman remain objective when every Veteran should loathe his every cell, at least in a concentrated area where The Candyman has left his stain of pain in that neck of the woods?
        Maybe The Candyman has a very dull axe to grind and Veterans have been delivered to his doorstep on a conveyor belt! Halloween is coming after all. Must start getting in the mood for the Pumpkin Drop and the Haitian hungry, Hungry Hippos Festivities…and **CANDY** 🙂

        I probably did not need to know Dr. Candyman Houlihan will again be holding Veteran’s Lives in his rat hands before bedtime…even my cat is upset about this because he smells a rat bastard! 🙂

  10. I am just sitting here without words.

    First I read the NY Times article about the hearings going on at the Northport VA about insurance or billing fraud by the VA.

    Now I read Ben’s blog about a GS15 committing time and attendance fraud and sick leave fraud, and likely other fraud in obtaining funding for his business. How many veterans were denied funding for their own business at something they can do while disabled?

    And this thief was allowed to retire after stringing some worthless supervisors along for months?

    Now I am reading the USA Today article on VA accountability, and one of the examples cited is the VA Caribbean where a doctor supervised his wife performing surgery on another doctors patient, and the veteran died hours later, and rather than being fired the doctor is promoted.

    Seriously WTF?

    And McDonald is slimy enough to repeat his “can’t fire your way to excellence” crap while claiming to have fired 3750 in two years?

    1. Hey 91Veteran, Thanks for pointing out that article.

      For anyone who is interested the article:

      “VA battles problem employees, accountability accusations”, Jerry Mitchell, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger, USA Today, 8:41 p.m. EDT September 19, 2016

      “https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/09/19/va-battles-problem-employees-accountability-accusations/90715048/”

      A quote from the article on one of the many listed in it.

      “{Manslaughter charge to new job

      On June 2, 2010, Jed Fillingim, then-assistant director for the Jackson VA, had been bar hopping in the Dallas area with his fiancée, Amy Wheat, a 38-year-old nurse recruiter for the Jackson VA, and Chad Barney, who worked for a VA hospital in Dallas.

      They were reportedly riding to another bar in a VA-owned Ford F-350 truck when the accident took place.

      In his call, Barney told the 911 operator, “I’ve got a girl that got hit … by a car.”

      A witness told police she saw a woman lying on the concrete and that she pulled over and could tell the woman had suffered extreme injuries.

      Although the witness didn’t see what happened, a pathologist concluded that Wheat’s injuries were consistent with a truck running over her.

      Under questioning, Fillingim told police that when he was driving that night with Wheat and Barney, he looked in the truck’s back seat, and Wheat “wasn’t there, so I did a U-turn and went back and there she was laying in the road.”

      He said he had no idea what Wheat “was doing, if she fell out, jumped out.”-
      Police charged Fillingim with intoxication manslaughter for driving over Wheat with his truck, but Texas authorities never pursued the prosecution.

      The Jackson VA put Fillingim on paid leave, and he resigned in November 2010.

      Months later, VA officials in Georgia hired him, rewarding him with a six-figure salary.

      According to a draft memo obtained by The Clarion-Ledger, a VA investigation discovered that VA officials in Augusta, Ga., interviewing Fillingim for a job there failed to ask him why he resigned, failed to ask questions about Wheat’s death, failed to catch a 2008 drunken driving conviction and failed to catch a 2009 disorderly conduct conviction.

      The VA investigation concluded there was a “case for serious disciplinary action,” including a demotion.

      But no demotion took place, and Fillingim has continued to earn raises from the VA, with a salary now topping $108,000.

      Annette Berry, Wheat’s mother questioned why the VA did nothing.

      Although the VA and others reached a settlement in the lawsuit with her and her family, she is still looking for answers. “I want to know what happened to my baby,” she said, “and I want the VA to be accountable for their actions.”

      She said her daughter’s death “changed my life forever and forever. She was my only child. It was very traumatic to me. I still see a psychiatrist.”-}”

    2. Another of the bad conduct by VA employees listed in the article is and to quote the article:

      “{From arrest to bigger job

      At the Jackson VA in Mississippi, authorities arrested Dorothy “Dot” Taylor on May 23, 2012, on a prescription fraud charge. The associate director of patient care had already been on administrative leave a month, still drawing her $162,212-a-year salary.

      She had reportedly gotten a prescription for a dozen doses (a three-day supply) of the opioid painkiller hydrocodone from a VA physician — only to get a prescription for a dozen doses of the same painkiller a day later from a doctor outside the VA hospital.

      According to documents obtained by the Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel, DEA agents were told Taylor had undergone a stint in drug rehab but afterward continued exhibiting signs of drug abuse, wearing dark sunglasses indoors and slurring her words by the end of the workday.

      Dr. Phyllis Hollenbeck echoed those claims in her 2013 testimony before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, saying Jackson VA officials had concerns regarding Taylor’s “abnormal behavior consistent with what is called an ‘impaired employee,’ especially due to possible substance abuse.”

      Charles Jenkins, president of the Local 589 of the American Federation of Government Employees, testified before the House Committee that Taylor threatened to kill him after he filed a complaint detailing her mistreatment of employees, her hiring her nephew and “her alleged receipt of prescribed controlled substances from certain VA providers.”

      On Feb. 25, 2013, the Jackson VA, with the approval of the Veterans Health Administration, placed her on indefinite suspension without pay based on “reasonable cause to believe she had committed a crime.”

      Less than a month later, the charges against her in Rankin County were dropped, and she won a job at the South Central VA Health Care Network, which oversees the Jackson VA and eight other VA hospitals, plus outpatient clinics and vet centers. She earned $162,212 in annual pay and has since retired.

      Taylor disputed that she was ever in rehab, insisted she was innocent of the criminal charges and said VA officials lowered her salary. “They tried to do me in, with God as my witness,” she said.

      She said physicians were angry with her because she insisted on following VA regulations and that she won numerous commendations for reaching and exceeding goals for health care at the VA.

    3. 91Veteran,
      I believe these “schemes” are perpetrated by many in VA, not just one or two at a time at a few VA’s!
      These schemes seem to be more intricate than what’s being reported.

      Think about it. Where do these individuals come up with these ideas?
      Especially the “medicare & medicaid” frauds Seymore told about.
      Did any of the VA employees have “connections” in the other state and federal government agencies? How else could these schemes continue without red flags being raised!?
      Millions of taxpayers monies, from medicaid/medicare, funneling off to one VHA should have been investigated.
      Plus, it only came to light after information “leaked” out by the nurses working there!

      Even Ben’s Blog today raised my suspicion over; how many at his VA knew what he was up to? Why was a red flag issued only after some employees saw what he was up to!
      I believe the upper echelon knew. Yet, did nothing until they had to. At least that’s my opinion!

      Lastly, I wonder how fast this asswipe will be promoted to director of his facility?!?!?!

  11. The investigation into this alleged fraud should encompass each of the responsible parties at the VA including the mail clerk

    The Veterans Administration is a rogue government agency.

    Those who defraud the government should be held to account and prosecuted to the full extent of the law

    1. But it never happens, this why this type of shit keeps happening. If these pricks can get away with abusing and killing us what is committing fraud going to do?

  12. Off topic but important info:

    The flyer came in the mail yesterday & it’s the first time I’m hearing about it. What starts in CA usually trickles to the rest of the states. It deserves looking into as Veterans will be affected if passed.

    Wow is this why our medications have been ‘taken’ away – the VA knows already the prices are going to be raised & they don’t want to pay!

    Proposition 61, the Drug Price Standards Initiative, will be on the November 8, 2016, ballot in California as an initiated state statute.

    This ballot measure was put on the ballot through a citizen signature petition drive.

    A “yes” vote supports regulating drug prices by requiring state agencies to pay the same prices that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) pays for prescription drugs.

    A “no” vote opposes regulating drug prices by requiring state agencies to pay the same prices that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) pays for prescription drugs.

    Proposition 61 could be one of the most expensive ballot measure battles in 2016, and could be the ballot measure with the most money spent on it ever in California’s history, with the combined amount of money raised by the support and opposition campaigns totaling to over $96 million as of mid-September 2016.

  13. When the VA hires people to break the laws that protect Veterans of course these people are going to break the law to enrich themselves. At the same time.

    If they had rushed through his paper work for work from home. Then he could have carried on his shredding of Veterans claim files from home and even got paid mileage every evening when he came home from working at his cycle shop.

    Also Elf,

    check out my late night comments on yesterday’s blog about the VA Nurses emails that were leaked to the New York Times and Congress. Robbie McDonald is running a massive Medicare Fraud Scam using VA Nurses to do it.

    1. Seymore,
      Something I just thought about.
      This asswipe who stole taxpayers money to build a M/C Shop. I wonder “IF” he has done something like this before?! One doesn’t just wake up one morning and implement a scam as intricate as this, and the “scheme” you wrote about yesterday, in a few hours! In my opinion, this was a “well planned” and “well thought out scheme!”
      I also wonder, who else was involved in this scheme. He couldn’t have done this all by his lonesome! Is this asswipes’ wife involved?

      _______________________

      Yes, I saw what you wrote last night. Just another fraudulent scheme, perpetrated by people who thought it out well in advance!
      (Here’s something else. When Ivanka Trump was interviewed, over child care, about a week or so ago, she specifically mentioned the “…rampant medicare and medicaid waste, fraud and abuse…” perpetrated against the American taxpayers. She also mentioned how her father will be “…going after…” the thieves.)
      Since, as you’ve said, it’s happening at that VA. You can bet your bottom dollar it’s happening at other VA’s!

      Like “mary” said, we need to hold Mr. Trump to his word, IF he’s elected!!!!!!

      1. Since you asked, Gingell, according to his LinkedIn profile was a Senior Manager for Post Office Operations for 1 year and 7 months ending in 2010…or just before he was hired at VA.
        He was acting manager for Post Office Operations in the Baltimore district in at least 1997, with a February 2010 thank you posted to the post office web site quoting Gingell.
        A 2007 news article shows he was a postmaster in York, PA.

        I wonder why he had such a short term as a Senior Manager in Post Office Operations. Or if he retired from there before going to the VA.

        On that USA Today article, it’s interesting they left out Tom Burch.

      2. “[I wonder why he had such a short term as a Senior Manager in Post Office Operations. Or if he retired from there before going to the VA.]”

        Probably retired after an off the book extended “sick leave” to build a pet rock farm business then hopped right over to where the pet rocks live, that he collects, The VA. See, a perfect circle?! 🙂 Dog poo often is found in perfect circles as well.

  14. So, a VA employee, GS-15, pulls a scam on the very, (government taxpayer subsidized/civilian), agency he works for. Then see’s no jail time and no reparations back to the taxpayers! All after he’s allowed to retire?!?!?
    Question; Since when, after filing false government documents to steal this money, NOT a crime?
    Just because he filed for, and was allowed to retire, does not cease the criminal act he perpetrated! Therefore, it shouldn’t cease any prosecution against this asswipe!

    I have a feeling, this isn’t the first time this kind of scam has been perpetrated against a government and/or civilian agency!
    The “waste, fraud and abuse” is rampant in all sectors of “businesses” today. One can’t watch the news or read the newspaper and see that! Plus, the internet is full of articles about frauds.

    The VA-OIG and other agencies, with three letters, won’t prosecute – they can’t. Hell, even Congress can’t prosecute a “criminal act” perpetrated by an individual!
    Basically, Congress has been turned into a circus, or “dog and pony show”! POTUS does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants! Then, there’s absolutely no one willing to stop him!

    The only thing the OIG can do is turn over all their “findings” to the FBI, (for investigation), and then to the DOJ, (for prosecution). Oh, wait, these entities happen to be run by a “friend” in the White House!

    We’ve already seen recently how the FBI & DOJ are run! Plus, we all see/know what the White House, (POTUS), thinks about veterans and the scams run by the “elite class” and other asswipes!

    We veterans, PAWNS, are nothing more than a “means to their end(s)”, ie; a global war machine; intended only for those select few to become wealthier!

    Just as it happened in the late 1960’s, “anti-war sentiment” is rising. The “SHEEPLE” are awakening. This 2016 election is vital in retaining our “Constitutional Republic”. If it goes to the wrong person, we’re fucked!
    As “mary” wrote earlier this morning. We have a chance. Mr. Trump has promised us change in the VA. Let’s hold him to it! Like he’s said to the African American voters, “What do [we] have to lose?”

  15. I hate to keep saying this but very true

    GIGO…Garbage In….Garbage Out

    Just more of the same…I do not e eb raise an eyebrow anymore ehen I read crap like this

  16. There should be no distinction veteran or VA Employee, retired or not. They need to screw this guy to the wall, seize his business, close it down, take away his retirement benefits, make him return Ill gotten funds AND THEN THROW HIS ASS IN JAIL and have bubba, his cell mate give him the same loving care he gave veterans.

  17. These rat bastards are getting even more brazen. Outright milking the VA Meat Grinder and immediately when caught red-handed, pulls the “get out of trouble card”, which means….RETIRE…after only 5 years working at VA?? WTF?!

    My larger question: Is Robert Gingell a Military Veteran? How did he reach level of GS-15? How many Veteran’s Files and Claims did he outright leave hanging and maybe literally, while he was “playing milk the meat grinder”? How many Veterans committed suicide while not hearing a peep from his team because he was too busy pretending to be sick while building a new business?

    WHY cannot we have the laws changed so these “sudden retirements” cannot take place, making such an upper management VA employee NOT ABLE to get out of any and ALL trouble by suddenly retiring? Is THIS Sloan Gibson’s NEW accountability?

    Is the VA going to review all the Veteran Claims he oversaw, considering his judgment is now being called into question?
    Is Robert Gingell considered “fully vested” to where he now will receive FULL retirement and all that comes with it after working 5 years at VA?
    Had that been a Veteran filing a Disability Claim and Appeal with BVA that the BVA found out the Veteran had been gainfully building a business while “playing sick”, the Veteran would be full charged with fraud and possibly face jail time and a huge fine….see how THAT works the other way around? The very BVA would have that Veteran for breakfast but as they say, what’s good for the goose….RAT BASTARDS!!
    Lots more questions on this and why the OIG are outright pussies because they HAVE NO BALLS!!!! They protect their own pussycats first….so much for putting Veterans First McDuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Again, I find it damn disgusting every time I go to my VA and see multiple huge posters all over the hospital warning veterans about travel fraud…as if the VA is losing millions every month to every veteran….and then there is this OBVIOUS fraud, and nothing is done.

      I’m curious how much his getting off Scot free had to do with his supervisor not taking the proper action when this thief started stringing her along.

      How much did she LET him off?

      His LinkedIn page shows a few endorsements for leadership and government from a Cheri Mason, Deputy Vice Chairman of the BVA. Was she his supervisor? Was she the one who let him ride the gravy train for months?

      1. namnibor, how about a BJ or maybe a good old fashioned “missionary position”?!?!?
        Wink, Wink, Nudge Nudge!

      2. Based on the dates of official actions and his reactions, starting in May 2015, I think the deputy director did everything she could do, and she did it relatively quickly by government standards. She started in spring 2015, not long after he started the game in February 2015. In fact, if it hadn’t been for her, this guy may not have been caught within six months.

        Sending this sort of correspondence demanding medical proof and generating an evidence trail of warnings requires some HR vetting, maybe legal vetting, and so a couple of weeks between requests is organizationally fast. For instance, in the timeline above, the deputy director asked for documentation on Aug. 18, then followed up two weeks later on Sep. 4 when he didn’t.

      3. I agree she finally got serious about it once she realized she was being lied to, but it still took her months to do so.

        He first said he would return to work in mid April, then mid June or after July 4th, and she waited til August to demand proof?

        I can’t think of any private company that would allow that, and likely not many federal agencies.

      4. She did not wait until August. First sentence, third para: “By May 2015, the Deputy Director began to question Mr. Gingell’s fitness for duty, …” after he had submitted some kind of medical statement, however goofy, earlier.

      5. Are you her boyfriend? Girlfriend?

        I’m not sure why you would defend mediocre, substandard, incompetence or thievery, but that’s what we end up with when you do so…a mediocre, substandard, incompetent and thieving organization that excels at that rather than their mission.
        Did you miss Ben’s sentence, “basically six months of fraud”? Or that the VA OIG confirmed the allegations?

        Read it again, and you see the OGC was asked for an ethics opinion on his outside business in December 2014. Someone had suspicions about his activity then, enough to give him guidelines on “unauthorized use of official time”. They then signed off on his sick leave in February 2015 which is a given, then in March, emails a suspicious document that cannot be confirmed that he can’t return to work until April 2015, but waits til May 2015 to question his fitness for duty?

        After being suspicious of his activity enough 5 months previous to request an OGC opinion?

        By that time he is roughly over 500 hours of sick time.

        She should have been requiring confirmed documentation on a monthly basis since he first claimed he needed extended sick leave in February.

        She certainly should have confirmed it or completely denied his sick leave since he couldn’t manage to get in his requests for leave in a timely manner and needed to be asked for them.

        I’m August 2015 she was asked for an accommodation…something she should have been asking him about since he said he was returning after “mid-June or after the 4th of July”.

        From February until he asked for his accomodation, he was over 1000 hours of sick leave.

        REQUESTING sick leave or an accommodation does not have to be granted, hence the term “request”. If it were an employee right, perhaps they would call it a demand.

        It was September when she finally started putting the screws to him and he couldn’t even comply with that.

        Finally, confronted with video evidence of his fraud, he responds by setting a retirement date 4 1/2 months later. He is then given a subpoena, and he shows up 3 days later and is allowed to retire?

        You might not think that is mediocre, substandatd, incompetent or theivery, but run the numbers.
        February to September 21 is 168 days or 1344 hours of work time.

        If his salary was $140000 per year, and I bet it was much higher, that equates to pay of $90,451.00 for the 1344 hours he was paid for sick leave while starting his business.

        That’s a LOT of theft. And a lot of poor, but typical of the VA, supervision.

      6. To be clear, that’s the first sentence of the third paragraph in the OIG report establishing that the supervisor started pinging him in May.

      7. To be clear, it was poor supervision. As a steward of tax dollars, she needs serious improvement.

        On the other hand, in comparison to other VA supervisors and directors, her performance is stellar.

        She at least requested information as opposed to joining him at his shop.

  18. All the disabled veterans, past and present, who could not even get an appointment at VA , REALLY too sick to work… some of these vets lost their homes & families… and here comes this Let’s Milk the System SCHMUCK– and GETS AWAY WITH IT. Trump, you had better be spot on with your commitments to us. We know Killary is part of this contorted mess. A huge problem is like an overinflated balloon, eventually it will explode. Good luck Trump. If you do make it to the WH, your work is definitely cut out for you.

    1. Google what the Clinton Foundation did to the Haitian people after that earthquake.
      These videos are running all over Utube lately.
      Mr. Trump met with the people within the past week. They had some Choice words for Bill and Hillary!

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