5 individuals indicted for stealing millions of dollars from US veterans

Five individuals have been indicted on Wednesday for stealing millions of dollars from US service members and veterans. A 14-count indictment was unsealed today in San Antonio, Texas, charging five individuals with coordinating an identify-theft and fraud scheme targeting mostly elderly and disabled veterans.

The charged individuals, who were based both in the Philippines and the United States, are alleged to have used the stolen personal identifying information (PII) of thousands of military members to access Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs benefits sites and steal millions of dollars. Robert Wayne Boling Jr., Fredrick Brown, Trorice Crawford, Allan Albert Kerr, and Jongmin Seok, were charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identify theft based on their alleged leading roles in the theft and exploitation of victim PII to conduct their fraud scheme.

Boling (a U.S. citizen), Kerr (an Australian citizen), and Seok (a South Korean citizen) were arrested in the Philippines. Brown and Crawford, both U.S. citizens, were arrested in Las Vegas and San Diego respectively. Brown has been detained pending trial. Crawford is awaiting a detention hearing.

According to the indictment, the defendants' identity-theft and fraud scheme began in 2014 when Brown, then a civilian employee at a US Army installation, stole thousands of military members' PII, including names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and Department of Defense identification numbers. Brown is alleged to have then provided the stolen information to Boling, who exploited the information in various ways together with his Philippines-based co-defendants Kerr and Seok.

Attorney General William P. Barr said, "The crimes charged today are reprehensible and will not be tolerated by the Department of Justice. These defendants are alleged to have illegally defrauded some of America's most honorable citizens, our elderly and disabled veterans and service members. Through today's action, the Department is honoring our pledge to target elder fraud schemes, especially those committed by foreign actors using sophisticated means, and to protect the veterans of our great country."

"It doesn't matter where on this planet you reside. If you target our veterans, we're coming for you. Our veterans were willing to risk everything to protect this Nation from foreign threats. Now it's our turn to seek justice for them," he further added.