The Attorney General’s office has reached a settlement with what a press release describes as “the now defunct and fraudulent United States Navy Veterans Association.”
There are a number of financial penalties involved, but the most interesting part of the AG’s release is what’s left out. Unmentioned is that the AG was tangled in the USNVA mess during the 2009 campaign. The group donated $55,000 to his effort — money he subsequently donated to charity — once it became unavoidably clear that the group was a fraud. Cuccinelli was not the only Virginia politician to get USNVA donations. The McDonnell campaign as well as Sen. Patsy Ticer also received contributions from the organization (which were also eventually donated).
Cuccinelli bowed out of the legal proceedings against USNVA and turned it over to staff. With that in mind the meat of the news release makes much more sense:
The attorney general did not play a role in the civil case against ACS, but instead assigned his chief deputy attorney general, Charles “Chuck” James, to oversee it. The case was handled by Senior Assistant Attorney General Richard Schweiker and Senior Assistant Attorney General/ Antitrust and Consumer Litigation Section Chief David Irvin.
USNVA claimed that it assisted disabled and needy war veterans and that it sent care packages to U.S. troops stationed overseas, among other charitable work. However, on March 21, 2010, the St. Petersburg Times began publishing a series of articles regarding USNVA that questioned its legitimacy. By the end of June 2010, USNVA ceased operations and its founding director, Bobby Thompson, disappeared amid allegations that USNVA was a fraud.
“The U.S. Navy Veterans Association defrauded people in the name of veterans, and this fraud diverted needed money from veterans’ charities,” said Cuccinelli. “This office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners at the state, local, and federal levels to find ‘Bobby Thompson’ and any other cohorts, to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for what they have done.”
The AG did the right thing here and, eventually, Mr. Thompson (or whomever he is…the perp in this case stole the Thompson identity) will likely find himself the resident of a correctional facility.
But now you have the context.
