This hearing will come to order. Good morning. Next week americans will honor our nations veterans who have paid the price for our freedom in times of conflict and served as our shield in times of peace. Today, nearly 20 million americans have earned the title of veteran. Im proud to say that maine is home to more than 114,000 veterans. The second highest percentage in our entire country. We owe them such a great debt. The gratitude we express in words on veterans day can repay this debt only in small measure. A truly grateful nation must match its words with actions. As we will learn today, one issue that calls for our immediate action is to fight a newer enemy facing our veterans and that is those relentless con artists who seek to rob them of their life savings and defraud them of the benefits they have earned in service to our country. Often, veterans fall victim to the same scams that this committee has highlighted in recent years such as the irs imposter scam, the grandparent scam, the romance scam, the jamaican lottery scheme and Identity Theft. Theres also troubling evidence that some fraudsters are deliberately targeting veterans and theyre structuring their scams in order to reach our veterans. For example, in a case that we will hear more about today, a fraudster set up an entity called the veterans pension planners of america. Sounds legitimate, doesnt it . It was not. She used it to operate what is often referred to as an aid and attendance scam. Her pitch was that she could help veterans diversify their assets to get beneath the threshold to qualify for va benefits if they released their assets to her. Instead she stole their assets and spent their money. All told, she defrauded 78 victims out of 2 million before she was arrested and convicted on multiple state and federal charges. Scammers exploit public support for those who have served our country by creating Fake Charities that supposedly raise money for needy veterans but instead funnel funds from generous contributors to greedy fraudsters. In one recent case, the con artist operating out of michigan was convicted of stealing nearly 200,000 from 36 victims who thought they were donating to charities benefitting veterans. Not only did the veterans never see a dime of this money, the fraudster added insult to injury by stealing the victims personally identifiable information to commit identify theft. Fortunately through the very good work of the u. S. Postal inspections service, this criminal is now behind bars. Other criminals promised to help veterans claim benefits from nonexistent Government Programs or they charge inappropriate fees for helping veterans apply for the benefits theyve earned or they exploit the sense of comradery that veterans feel for one another to gain their Victims Trust and swindle them out of their savings. These regrettably are not isolated examples. Surveys show that more than three quarters of our veterans have been contacted by con artists. Given these facts, what action should we take to protect our veterans . Certainly the cases we will highlight in this hearing show the value of aggressive prosecution. That sends a real message to other criminals out there that they will be pursued, they will be caught, and they will be brought to justice. But its this committee has often noted, many con artists operate offshore, beyond the reach of our state and local Law Enforcement and some veterans are simply too embarrassed to report that they have been scammed. Although they shouldnt be because it can happen to anyone. Instead, we must find ways to protect our veterans from scams before they become victims. Education is one way. Thats one of the reasons were holding this hearing today. Another is to build on the comradery veterans have for one another by bringing them together to provide another set of eyes. The nonprofit vet to vet Maine Program shows how the trusted judgment of a fellow veteran can stop a scam before it starts. Before closing, i want to note the reason gao study that identified actions that the Veterans Administration can take to better protect veterans from aid and attendance scams. According to the gao, they receive reports of potential fraud or exploitation but it does not analyze this information to assess the prevalence of scams, inform its outreach efforts, or to help Law Enforcement pursue these criminals. I believe that the va should take a leading role in this fight. The Ranking Member and i, as well as other members of this committee, will be writing to the secretary of the va to ask what steps the department is taking to assess the risk posed to our nations veterans and what can be done to better protect them from fraud. As veterans day approaches, we remember all those who serve, not just by honoring their service through our words, but also by the actions that we take. Veterans and their families have a right to expect that the nation they served will fight to protect them from unscrupulous individuals. As the aarp says in its bulletin, they protected us, now its our turn. I now am happy to turn to our Ranking Member for his opening statement. Thank you. Chairman collins, thank you for holding this very important hearing especially as we prepare for veterans day. Im pleased as i know we all are that were joined by three veterans, one of whom is an active reservist on this panel today. We want to thank each of you for your service to the country and grateful for your testimony today. Veterans day is only days away and its a day when we honor those who served our country not only in war but also in peace. And its a reminder of our abiding responsibility to serve them, to serve them in return. President lincoln outlined a simple mandate when it comes to the care that our veterans are owed, quote, that we must care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, unquote. Way back in 1991, my father was taking the oath of office as governor and it happened to be the day before the invasion of iraq when our soldiers were heading into combat and at that time he said and im quoting we pray for them and for ourselves that we may be worthy of their valor, unquote. Being worthy of their valor, if you happen to be a member of congress, if youre going to prove yourself worthy of their valor, you ought to prove it by your actions. Here in the senate and the congress overall, we have an the opportunity and the ability to demonstrate that we are worthy of their valor by ensuring that veterans receive every single benefit that they are owed and even more. And when we learn of barriers to those benefits, we must work to overcome those barriers. Thats why im fighting so hard to hold the department of Veterans Affairs accountable for providing every veteran access to information about their va benefits. My legislation, the va website accountability act, which i hope we can pass by the end of this year, would get us one step closer to comprehensive accessibility for veterans. Its why im fighting to ensure that caregivers who watch over our veterans every single day are supported and given respite. The supporting of veterans caregivers act would ensure caregivers cannot be kicked out of the va caregivers program. And as well discuss today, its why chairman collins and i wanted to hold this hearing to ensure that not one more veteran, not one more veteran loses one more penny to a scammer, a schemer, or a con artist. So we must not stop with just the hearing. We know that 78 of veterans report receiving a scam attempt related to their veteran status. Almost eight out of ten. If we are to be worthy of the valor of our veterans, this number should be zero, not 78 , it should be zero. A recent report from the gao found that the va lacks a central clearinghouse for soliciting and collecting information on potential financial exploitation of veterans receiving pension benefits. To say this is troubling is an understatement. The gao provided the va with clear recommendations for addressing this problem and now im quoting, quote, systematically solicit and collect information on potential financial exploitation, unquote, and, quote, assess this information to address plans to address the potential exploitation of veterans receiving pension benefits, unquote. Instead of working to implement the recommendations, the va is putting in place a process that the gao claims would, quote, not fully address the underlying issue, unquote. I think theyre being a little charitable in their assessment of what the va is doing in response. This is totally unacceptable. Thats why were sending a letter, members of this committee, chairman collins and i and others, to find out more about this decision and also why the va is not doing more to combat scams against veterans. And as well hear today, in order to put an end to the predatory practice of scammers, scammers of the worst kind of who prey upon those who serve, there needs to be an all hands on deck approach. We need to find a way to stop these scammers from getting through phone lines, we need to be sure that people are educated about how to avoid becoming victims of a scam. There must be a place to report scammers, whether its the department of justice, the federal trade commission, the va or right here at the aging committee by way of our fraud hotline. We need to ensure that prosecutors have the tools they need to go after these criminals and keep them behind bars. Im certain that our hearing today will touch upon all of these topics and more, but its unconscionable to me that someone who would stoop so low as to steal money from someone who agreed to sacrifice so much for our country and its also unconscionable to me and i know members of this committee, that someone would also stoop so low to pad their own pockets by spewing a tale of caring for veterans when theyre doing nothing of the kind. Chairman collins, this hearing could not be more important. We thank you for holding it and we look forward to the testimony of our witnesses. Thank you, senator casey. I want to acknowledge that senator brawn and senator blumenthal have joined us and were now going to turn to our panel of witnesses. Our first witness is ben wells from portland, maine. Mr. Wells is an air force veteran who participated in Operation Enduring freedom. He flew 35 combat missions, earned an air medal and was honorably discharged in 2013. He then had the wisdom to move to the great state of maine where he became involved in the vet to vet program. A local nonprofit that matches veterans for companionship, mentorship, and other assistance. I will now turn to our Ranking Member to introduce our second witness. Thank you, chairman collins. Im pleased to introduce leverne foreman. Laverne, thank you for making the trip and were grateful youre willing to be with us. He served in the u. S. Air force, the u. S. Army reserve as well as the national guard. He worked as a civilian employee for the army. Hes here today to share with us what happened to him a few years ago when con artists stole money from him claiming it would go to a veterans organization. Leverne later learned there was no organization, he reported what happened and its possible hell be able to help the prosecution of the scammers. Id also like to welcome levernes wife, doris, who is with us today, his daughter terry and soninlaw jeffrey who are also here. Were also grateful, leverne, as we are to all of our veterans today and we hope every day were grateful for your service but especially for taking the time to be here. Thank you. Thank you. Our next witness will be dewane richardson, the District Attorney for three counties in mississippi. He has been a real leader in combatting these scams. First selected at the tender age of 30, one of the youngest das in the states history, mr. Richardson later became the first africanamerican to serve as president of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association and finally, last but certainly not least, we will hear from inspector carol harris, the acting inspector in charge of the Communications Strategy group at the United StatesPostal Inspection Service. Hes also a Lieutenant Colonel in the u. S. Marine corps reserves who served in iraq and kuwait. He now leads operation protect veterans for the Postal Inspection Service and will discuss its efforts to combat fraud targeting our veterans. Mr. Wells, well begin with you. Thank you all for being here. Thank you. Chairman collins, Ranking Member, casey, members of the committee, thank you for having me here. Its an honor to speak about this issue. As you said, senator collins, i was an air force veteran, i got out in 2013 and relocated to maine in 2014. Upon arriving there i wanted to continue my dedication to service and i was looking for opportunities to volunteer while i applied to graduate schools. I found vet to vet maine and i liked what they had to say. They offered companionship for isolated veterans. Theres a significant number of veterans in the state. What i would also like to emphasize is theres a significant number of elderly men and women in the state and veterans are not exception. What vet to vet maine seeks to address is the isolation of those veterans but also connect them with benefits that they likely qualify before and havent been receiving. So when vet to vet contacted me, i went in and connected me with a veteran force veteran. He was a maintainer on jet aircraft. Over the course of several weeks, i was in his house once a week meeting with him and his wife. You know, conversation, coffee, taking him out to lunch, getting out of the house. It was clear to me they were isolated. They lived in wyndham, maine, which is not a metropolitan area. I was able to have a good connection with them. And i became aware that he had never in 60 years of being out of the military, been connected with the va in any way. I became aware his wife had had contact with the vet to vet Maine Program as a way to get respite care as he was in declining health. He had Significant Health problems, including physical issues, chronic pain and diabetes. At the time i saw him, they were spending hundreds of dollars of diabetes medication alone and living off a small pension from a telecommunicationshis work in telecommunications and his Social Security benefits. That became my first order of business, get him connected to the va and get the medical care, pharmaceutical care that he not only qualified for and deserved, but really needed. In the process i was able to help them fill out the paperwork. I contacted the vet to vet Maine Program to get him a case manager, make them aware of his needs in the home and see if there were other organizations that could help them out. In that process, she continued as paperwork was slow to process, as it always is, she continued to reach out. She saw an ad in the newspaper, i think it came with the coupons, for a program that was advertising free home care and respite care for veterans. Sounds really good. She contacted this organization. She had the foresight to reach out to me to sit in on this conversation. I accepted. The nature of this was two gentlemen showed up to the house offering free respite or in home care to them. Their sales pitch was what they were going to do is they were going to assist them in obtaining a pension from the va and that would also allow them access to the aid and Attendance Program as you previously mentioned. What they wanted and what struck me, sort of the first red flag in the situation was that how theyre going to finance this. They wanted my veteran to open up a separate Checking Account they had draft rights on so they could autodraft. They were going to auto deduct whatever pension and benefit they got. Thats not out and out illegal or anything, but thats theres no conversation as to why that existed instead of regular payment methods. I started to ask questions. They then continued and said how they were going to get him to qualify the means test, which all these pension and benefits are means tested. He was slightly over. At which point he started to describe a method they could report medical bills to the va to lower their total income and pass the means test. Thats fine. Except that even with medical bills, even with the hundreds of dollars in insulin they werent going to pass it. He suggested that they employ, in air quotes, their daughter, as a medical aide, which she was not qualified, trained or certified in, to do things like filling their prescriptions over the phone or going and picking up prescriptions and this sort. They could pay her, which they werent going to, a stipend and then put that into their account. The fuzzy math is where i really threw down this wasnt a good idea. Luckily, they had trusted me, i said really shouldnt do this. And they were able to avoid the scam. They ended up going through the regular process. They got benefits, in home care and respite care through va and other organizations. Ultimately he was moved to hospice and then passed. At least in the later stages of his life he had that care and it didnt put significant financial strain on the veteran. Thank you. Thank you so much for intervening and caring enough to do so. I cant imagine what the final years of life would have been for this couple if they hadnt followed your advice. Im sure that they would have lost everything they were getting that was in that separate Checking Account. Mr. Foreman . Chairman collins, members of the committee, i thank you for inviting me to testify here today today. Its an honor today and talk to you about veterans scams. My name is laverne foreman, and im 82 years old. I live in the hernden area in pennsylvania. Im retired both from the Civil Service as well as the military. Having served in the air force, the Army Reserves and the Army National guard. Im proud to be a veteran. For most part, people thank me for my service. It never occurred to me that someone would be so cold hearted to make a call and claim