A federal employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs has pleaded guilty to using a government-issued credit card to steal nearly $2 million worth of medical equipment.
According to an announcement from the Justice Department, the individual worked as a purchasing agent in the VA’s Prosthetic Department in Atlanta since 2012. In this position, the employee received prosthetic request forms and prescriptions and prepared purchase orders for a wide variety of prosthetic and sensory aid devices, medical supplies, and durable medical equipment.
In addition to legitimate purchases for veterans’ health care needs, he used a government-issued purchase card to make unauthorized purchases of CPAP supplies from a supplier in Alabama, which were then stolen and sold to a vendor in Ohio.
Between 2013 and 2021, hundreds of unauthorized CPAP supply purchases were made, costing the VA in excess of $1.9 million.
Sentencing in the case is currently scheduled for November 17, 2021.
