GRH4V: defrauding the taxpayers?

If someone collects more money from you than they are entitled to, and they knowingly take it, is that not a fraud?

And if you are the taxpayers of the State, is that not costing you more taxes (your property taken by the state for its determined usage)?

That is what IS happening at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, via the Dormitory or Dom,  unit.

Here is how it works. For this discussion let us presume the cost of having one veteran stay at the Dom unit, is 3100.00 a month. Since the Veteran is homeless and without income, the Federal VA pays 800 of that. The rest comes from the State Veterans trust fund. So, 2300 comes from the State.

The Veteran comes to the home in June 2010. He applies for disability pension or Social Security disability - but that takes months to complete. It can take as long as 4 years. In the mean time, the state trust pays $27,600.00 a year, and the Federal VA$9,600.00 per year, for the Veteran to stay at the home.

2 years later, in August of 2012, the veteran gets a favorable decision on his disability claim. It is determined that he will be given $1,200.00 per month from Social security. And that he is entitled to back pay, which started the day he applied. So he now has 26 months of pay coming to him.

As a non income person, he gets $5.00 a week for personal items.
As a pensioner or Income person, he gets $100.00 a month.

Here is whee the fraud takes place.  When this veteran gets his back pay it will be $31,200.00 for the 26 months. He is allowed to keep 100 for each month, thus leaving a balance of $28,600.  The Home takes that money. But where does that 28 thousand dollars go?

The Home was already paid for the room and board of this veteran. The home claims that they are entitled to that money, but where does it go?  No one knows.

One of our guys just found out he is getting SS, and will be getting his money soon. A monthly amount of about 1200.00 and back pay.  Now when he took that information down to the member finance office, the finance officer gave him a bill for the month of June showing 1100. That is because the veteran is allowed to keep 100 dollars for his personal needs. Now, what about all that back pay?

Seems to me, that if the home is entitled to it, it should be used to pay his FULL amount of 3100.00 for each consecutive month until the back pay is used up, AND the home should NOT be billing the federal VA and the State of Michigan Veterans Trust fund for the 3100 per month.

Now since he now has an income, the home will only ask for 1200 from the state trust fund, while continuing to get the 800 from the Federal VA.

Now here is the thing that makes this appear to be Fraud.. NO ONE knows if this is what they are doing!
Veterans have asked, and obtained no answers.

There are currently about 76 people on the Dom unit.. if just 20 of them per year have a case that is like this one, the home has the possibility of raking in 28,600 times 20, or 572 thousand dollars that it does not account for. And that is where the defrauding of the taxpayers comes into play.. Where is that money going?

ANOTHER THING. The poor Meals they are serving here.. If we the veterans have to pay for this garbage (as posted here on this blog) we should have the right to refuse to pay for meals we do not get. And, pay less for substandard meals. 

Case in point, the recent "beef vegetable soup" that had no beef in it, posted here recently. They are serving it again tonight. I bet that once again, there will be no beef. Why should I have to pay for something I am not getting? THAT is cheating taxpayers (veterans are taxpayers too).