Who has control over disabled vets assets? Thieves and the bankrupt and gambling addicts, oh my

The Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers' investigation on fraud and theft in a program that oversees the assets of disabled veterans ran in newspapers nationwide on Sunday, including in Houston, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, Albany, Corpus Christi and other cities. Here's a couple of links:


 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/17/MNQ51P1INF.DTL&tsp=1
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/Families-wage-bitter-battles-to-save-vets-from-3636849.php

But that story had its roots in an older Houston Chronicle probe of a $2 million fraud involving the assets of about two dozen veterans in Houston. This is an excerpt from the first story and links to the previous stories in this series.

HOUSTON LAWYER, WIFE ACCUSED OF STEALING FROM VETS:
Published in the Houston Chronicle on November 10, 2010
AP version still online: http://www.khou.com/news/Houston-lawyer-wife-accused-of-stealing-from-vets-106895918.html


HOUSTON — When Shirley German couldn't get her son's guardian — an attorney handpicked by the Department of Veterans Affairs — to fork over $250 for Thanksgiving dinner for the disabled U.S. Marine and his family, she sensed something askew.


That man, Joe B. Phillips, a 71-year-old Houston lawyer and former VA employee, now stands accused of stealing more than $2 million from at least 28 Texas veterans and hiding those thefts with faked bank statements, padded expenses and even imaginary accounts verified with forged signatures, according to dozens of civil suits and a 2010 federal court indictment.


Among the Houston victims was German's son, Leland Spencer, 39, a Marine who had been scheduled to be shipped to Iraq in 1991 when he collapsed in a coma and nearly died of a crippling disease at a U.S. military base on Okinawa. "My son paid a price and the rest of the disabled veterans did, too and I'm furious they have to go through something like this," German said.

HOUSTON RIPOFFS OF DISABLED VETS WENT UNDETECTED FOR MORE THAN A DECADE:

LISE OLSE, HOUSTON CHRONICLE Copyright 2012 HOUSTON CHRONICLE. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

By LISE OLSEN, HOUSTON CHRONICLE December 21, 2011 

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Disabled-veterans-left-penniless-in-alleged-2410906.php

FAMILY WANTS ANSWERS ABOUT VETS' MISSING MONEY:

By Lise Olsen and Lindsay Wise, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, January 12, 2012

 http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Family-seek-answers-for-veteran-s-missing-money-2499200.php




DISABLED VETERANS IN TEXAS FLEECED BY VA-APPOINTED MONEY MANAGERS

By Lise Olsen and Lindsay Wise  Monday, May 21, 2012 

 Texas has had twice as many prosecutions of VA-approved fiduciaries as any other state

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Disabled-veterans-in-Texas-fleeced-by-3571559.php