Too Good to be True

With the economy slowly on the rise, new investors need to be weary of people like Alan James Watson. Watson, 47, from Clinton Township, Michigan, was recently sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraudulently receiving over $40 million dollars from investors in his ‘investment club’.

Using the name Cash Flow Financial LLC, Watson’s investment club was advertised as having a guaranteed rate of return of 10% per month. Despite the fact every investor should know there is no such thing as a guaranteed return, let alone one of 10% per month, people fell for it. Over 900 people stretching from Virginia to California succumbed to Watson’s fake promises and ended up losing it all.

Here’s how it worked: Watson told investors that their money would be invested through an equities-trading system developed by an expert consultant, Trade LLC. In reality, of the $40 million Watson received, only $6 million ever made its way to Trade LLC. Watson invested the rest of the money in miscellaneous, high-risk ventures without the consent of the investors and ended up losing all $34 million.

Despite this enormous loss, Watson continued to falsify monthly account statements and investors continued to believe they were making serious money. He kept investors on the hook by operating a Ponzi scheme, where initial investors were paid off with subsequent investors’ money.

When it was all over, Watson was found guilty of wire fraud and asked to forfeit $36,615,344. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has recently filed civil charges against him as well, stating he improperly used investors’ money for personal gain.

To learn more or see the original article, please visit: http://www.risk.net/operational-risk-and-regulation/news/2112462/investment-club-manager-guilty-usd40-million-fraud

If you have questions about false or fraudulent activity, contact Mark Mandell at 248/380-9976.

Iraq/Afghanistan Vets and Respiratory Illness

Kristina Derro
Veterans Disability Lawyer

Although our troops are already in enough danger being overseas in hostile areas, they now have a new hidden threat to their health, respiratory illness.

A recent medical study has found that United States military personnel and civilian contractors deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan may be at risk for chronic lung disease, including asthma and constrictive bronchiolitis (CB). The study showed that ‘deployers’ experienced respiratory symptoms at a 4% higher rate than non-deployers, despite physician-diagnosed asthma and chronic bronchitis remaining equal.

Kalie VonFeldt, Maura Robinson, and Cecil Rose, the medical professionals in charge of the study, targeted four factors in explaining this health risk:

Desert Dust: With the rapidly degrading soils and the frequent dust storms, lead and other metals typically found in desert dust are in sizes small enough to penetrate the small airways of our troops’ lungs.

Burn Pits: The Department of Defense estimates the average American soldier generates 9 to 12 pounds of waste per day; all of which is typically disposed of in open air burn pits.

Industrial Fires: Burning oil and other industrial compounds typically release hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. Both of these oxides of sulfur are known causes of CB.

Cigarette Smoking and Secondhand Smoke: Recent studies have shown almost 1/3 of U.S. Troops smoke cigarettes while deployed. While those that do smoke harm themselves by choice, the other 66% are subject to high levels of secondhand smoke.

Taken together, these factors could be the explanation of the 14.5% asthma rate in Iraq/Afghanistan deployed troops, compared to the 1.8% of troops deployed elsewhere. Although further study will be needed to see the exact effects of the aforementioned factors, these numbers certainly suggest the medical community is pointed in the right direction.

To learn more or see the original study, please visit: http://www.rtmagazine.com/issues/articles/2012-05_02.asp

If you need help with your VA disability claim, contact us at (800) 693-4800.

One of the Good Guys

James G. Fausone

Veterans Disability Lawyer

Dr. Michael Paletta, the chief medical director of Hospice of Michigan and a retired Air Force medical officer, knows there are other ways a doctor can impact a life than simply with medicine.

Earlier in the month, Dr. Paletta was called to the house of an elderly man who had ‘given up’ after his numerous trips to the ER and doctors telling him there was no more they could do. After walking into the room and introducing himself, Dr. Paletta didn’t ask about the man’s medicine regimen, his recent ER trips, or why he was refusing care; he simply got to know him. 

Veteran to veteran, Dr. Paletta learned that the elderly man, Don, was a WWII veteran who had been a crewman in the B17 bomber. During the course of their conversation, Dr. Paletta and Don reminisced about the ones they’d lost, the ones they’d loved, and formed a bond that most of us will never know, in less than an hour’s time.

After the talk, Don’s daughter told Dr. Paletta that it was the first time he’d spoken to anyone in a week and hadn’t even told his family most of the war stories Dr. Paletta had just heard. Ten days later, Don passed away in peace.

Dr. Paletta has a hard time explaining the sacred space around someone in the final moments of life, but knows that he explored that space with Don during their encounter.

Dr. Paletta is a supporter of LHFV and is also a former comrade of Brig. Gen. Carol Ann Fausone.  Dr. Paletta has reviewed cases for us and provides valuable medical opinions.  He is one of the good guys.

To learn more and see the original article, please visit: http://www.freep.com/article/20120527/OPINION05/205270491/Guest-commentary-A-veteran-s-sacred-space-at-life-s-end

Statistics Don't Lie

Kristina L. Derro

Veterans Disability Lawyer

The returning veterans from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are looking to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of troops in the nation’s history. Of the 1.6 million returning troops, over 45% of them are seeking compensation for injuries sustained while in active duty; over double the VA’s projected estimates.  

To make matters worse, these new veterans are claiming nine ailments a piece on average. This is up from the Vietnam average of four per veteran, and the WWII rate of only two. Researchers suggest that an increased awareness of problems such as concussions and PTSD, combined with more troops surviving their wounds helps explain the increase in these numbers.   Additionally, it would seem the VA’s willingness to recognize certain “soft” disabilities could be impacting this number.  Thus, the historical averages may be artificially low.

The numbers however aren’t the only things changing, the types of injuries sustained are also different from what the VA has seen before. With a majority of the injuries in our most recent wars being due to IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), the VA is seeing increases in hearing loss, blindness and damage to lower extremities. The good news is that over 95% of troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan ended up surviving their wounds.

As with any war, the cost of caring for veterans rises for several decades and peaks roughly 35 years after the conflict due to diseases brought upon by aging. With so many recent veterans filing more claims than ever before, our country needs to start preparing for a rather large bill in the coming years. The VA is struggling with processing these claims accurately and needs to improve its service delivery.

Still, despite these concerns and the increasing costs of our returning veterans, the most important thing for us to remember is that they’re returning at all.   

To learn more or see the original article, please visit: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-05-28/veteran-disability/55250092/1#.T8SntzI-A5s.email

Shocking Error Rate at California VA

Jim Fausone

Veteran Disability Lawyer

With the dust still settling from the shocking numbers of the VA backlog, a review of California’s three regional VA offices sheds light on a new issue; the alarmingly high error rate.  The Oakland, San Diego, and Los Angeles VARO’s were recently reviewed for their efficiency, accountability, and accuracy when handling vets’ disability claims….the results were deplorable.

If you filed a disability claim in Oakland, you’d have a 39% chance of it being done incorrectly and having to start the process all over again. This error rate grows to 53% if the claim deals with temporary total disability evaluations in Oakland, and stays around 50% if the claim involves residual traumatic brain injury.

The San Diego and Los Angeles offices didn’t fare any better. Los Angeles was found to have a 97% error rate when dealing with temporary total disability evaluations, San Diego - 77%, numbers that are simply inexcusable. Furthermore, both San Diego and Los Angeles processed about half of all residual traumatic brain injury claims incorrectly.

In response to the review, California’s senators and representatives are demanding answers. The inefficiencies need to be explained, as well as the severe lack of accountability on behalf of the VARO’s staff.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki believes these inefficiencies are a result of terrible management and a lack of staff understanding the applicable rules and regulations. Whether he is right or not, when looking at error rates in the 70^th and 90^th percentiles, any change is a good change.  

To learn more or see the original article, please visit: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_20648338/states-dc-delegation-demands-answers-from-va-concerning

If you need help with your VA disability claim, contact us at (800) 693-4800.

VA National Conference

On June 26 -29, 2012, The Department of Veterans Affairs is excited to host the National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo. As the largest nationwide conference of its kind, this event focuses on helping Veteran-owned businesses maximize opportunities in the federal marketplace.

Join nearly 6,000 participants in Detroit for the opportunity to:

• Connect with procurement decision makers from other businesses and federal agencies
• Expand knowledge through over 200 training and business requirement sessions
• Engage with other attendees and gain visibility in the Expo Hall of nearly 500 booths
• Use VetGovPartner to facilitate online and onsite networking including face-to-face sessions with senior procurement decision makers

This VA conference will be hosted at Cobo Center.  There will also be a jobs fair for veterans and employers looking to hire vets on the first two days.  For more information, go to:  http://www.nationalveteransconference.com/

                                   

The Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC team is working with the conference organizers and plan on being in attendance.

Meet Mayor Dave Bing

Mayor Bing will speak at Burton Manor Banquet & Conference Center on June 14 about his personal experiences, the importance of a good working relationship between the City of Detroit and the suburban communities, vision for the future of Detroit, and answer audience questions. 

The cost to attend this luncheon is $30 for Chamber Members or $40 for Non-Chamber Members.

If you would like to attend this event, you can register here.