OpEdNews - Page 5 of Article: National VA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Critical Veteran

“As detailed in the brief, the conduct of the (VA) Secretary has been contrary to law, in bad faith, highly adversarial. There is an inference of impropriety by any number of senior officials in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,” reads the brief filed by attorney Robert Walsh.

And it bears repeating from the brief: “Ms. Renee Szybala, who responded to the letter for the Secretary, then appears to have had a direct involvement in orchestrating the efforts to commence criminal proceedings against the appellant in Federal District Court when she knew his appeals were pending at either the BVA (Board of Veterans' Appeals) or this Court (the CAVC).”

Tw0 VA e-mails are below this post.
- http://malcontends.blogspot.com/2007/09/va-e-mails-reveal-va-officials-plotting.html
- http://malcontends.blogspot.com/2007/09/va-e-mails-reveals-va-officials.html

Roberts’ CAVC brief continues:

In this case the pursuit of the criminal conviction of this Appellant was ongoing during the entire pendency of this appeal.

The (VA) Secretary appears to have willfully and knowingly circumvented the jurisdiction of this Court (CAVC) and his employees and agents made material misrepresentations of the precedent rulings of this Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit in open court, under oath.

Had a determination of fraud actually been made, the Appellant would have still had the right to appeal that decision. … The referral of this case directly from the VA OIG’s Chicago office to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin for criminal proceedings is contrary to law, justice, equity, and fair play.

When the Court rules to restore the benefits of the Appellant, we shall have arrived at an absurd “Alice in Wonderland” result. A veteran will sit in prison for accepting the wire transfer of funds to which he was legally entitled. …This extraordinary rendition of a veteran from a VA administrative dispute directly into Federal District Court on criminal charges is unprecedented.

VA Federal Law

Veteran-advocacy groups deride the delivery of health care and disability benefits to our veterans as another example of Bush administration incompetence in administering government services and entitlements to which it is ideologically hostile.

The VA, a large department of government, growing under the strain of war and non-existent administration planning for the consequences of war, is operating under the authority of specific federal regulations—the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 38, “Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans Relief.”

Title 38 specifically defines and delineates the processing and delivery of VA benefits, and several regulations that have the force of federal law were blatantly ignored by VA officials in the prosecution of Roberts.
U.S. Atty Biskupic ought to have read up on the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 38, “Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans Relief” and tossed the case off his desk after being approached by VA officials.
Title 38 (3.901 Fraud) specifically defines “fraud” (what Roberts is accused of engaging in a sense, though the specific charge was changed from VA fraud to mail fraud to wire fraud) as a false or fraudulent act committed in trying to obtain “any claim for benefits under any of the laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

Title 38 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 3.905 (a) Jurisdiction
The VA insulates and protects veterans by establishing a layer of procedures before a veteran can be denied VA benefits, much less criminally prosecuted for fraud in seeking benefits.

The Title 38 Code of Federal Regulations, section 3.905 (a) Jurisdiction statute reads: “At the regional office level … the Regional Counsel is authorized to determine whether the evidence warrants formal consideration as to forfeiture.”

Robert Walsh, the VA appellate attorney for Roberts and a former VA staff attorney, blasted the criminal prosecution as well as the VA denial of benefits for its lack of review by the VA Regional counsel, per Title 38.
"The local VA Inspector General going directly to the U.S. Attorney without any review by VA attorneys appears to be unprecedented and is a violation of Title 38 Code of Federal Regulations, section 3.905.

"The U.S. Attorney prosecuting a case such as this without a proper investigation by the F.B.I. or U.S. Treasury is outrageous. It is contrary to the Department of Justice guidelines for such cases. Failure to follow those well-thought out procedures is unwise. So we arrive at this bizarre outcome.

"When Congress passed the Veterans Judicial Review Act, which became law in 1988, they created a special court to review disputes over veterans’ benefits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC).
"No other court was given jurisdiction over these claims, and that court has not yet ruled on the reduction of benefits suffered by Mr. Roberts.

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