Las Cruces company accused of defrauding veterans
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA)-- The Disabled Veterans Consultants Inc. and their owners are being accused by the State of New Mexico of charging for consulting services to veterans despite veterans being able to get these for free.
"These are individuals and organizations who prey upon our veterans in their moment of need when they're trying to access the disability benefits that they're entitled to as a result of their service to our country. These organizations and individuals take advantage of veterans by offering to help process those claims for a fee, often an upfront exorbitant fee. Oftentimes a percentage of the disabilities that are actually recovered themselves," says New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez.
The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs requires that any business that helps veterans with benefits claims be accredited through the VA. According to the New Mexico Department of Justice, DVC and its owners were not licensed to do so. They also charged veterans high fees for consulting services they were providing illegally.
Court documents also state that payments the company received from veterans were not made to the company itself, they were made to Zeplin Global Group, LLC, MJJL Holdings LLC; and GTM Bookkeeping, LLC. These codefendants are all based out of Chula Vista, California.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says that DVC falsely told veterans that they could speed up the application processes, and get veterans higher disability ratings in order to increase benefit payments. He also stated that fraudulent claims like these are not new to the state.
"Oftentimes we have men and women who have honorably served this country who have disabilities as a result of their service, who don't realize or may not have access to free services to help them access the benefits to which they are entitled," says Torrez.
