Texas Veteran Couple Allegedly Scams U.S. Army Out Of Millions
Unfortunately, Fort Hood and the U.S. Army find themselves embroiled in more negative headlines, this time involving a married couple of veterans who investigators say scammed the Army out of millions.
According to our news partners at News 10 and the KIlleen Daily Herald, Federal agents seized more than 20 vehicles and money from 10 bank accounts from a married couple's home in Killeen as part of a fraud investigation.
Army investigators allege that Kevin Pelayo and Cristine Fredericks used a transportation reimbursement program for federal employees to swindle the Army out of $2.3 million to $11.3 million. Investigators said that the pair used personal information stolen from soldiers to defraud the military.
According to an Associated Press story shared by the Killeen Daily Herald, Pelayo used his position as a platoon sergeant to access the personnel files of soldiers under his command and sign them up for a mass transportation subsidy without their knowledge, routing payments to his bank account. Fredericks, who worked in human resources, then allegedly helped him move the money into a number of accounts.
If the allegations are true, the duo were getting away with this for a long time, even while Pelayo was stationed overseas. Check out the KDH article for more details.
At the time of this article's publication, Pelayo and Fredericks had NOT been arrested, charged, or taken into custody.