A 55-year-old man from Citrus County was arrested after the Department of Veterans Affairs said he stole more than $364,000 in benefits over a 28-year time.
On Thursday, Roger B. Handberg, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, said that Robert Howard Lawrence II was charged with one count of getting stolen government property.
If Lawrence is found guilty, he could spend up to 10 years in federal jail and lose at least $364,000.
According to court records, the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) program of the Veterans Affairs (VA) pays a monthly payment to the qualified relatives of military service members who have died in the line of duty. But if the remaining partner gets married again, they are no longer qualified for DIC payments.
Lawrence was the remaining spouse of a service member who died in 1994. Lawrence got remarried in November 1995, and he may have kept getting DIC payments until April 1, 2023.
According to court records, Lawrence got benefits he didn’t deserve because he “repeatedly told the VA that he had not remarried,” even though he had remarried twice, in 1995 and 2023.
Lawrence is said to have gotten $364,497.80 in Dependency and Indemnity Compensation payments from Veterans Affairs.
An accusation is just a claim that a suspect has done something illegal under federal law. Until and unless they are proven guilty, all defendants are thought to be innocent.
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General is looking into this case. Hannah Nowalk, who is an assistant U.S. attorney, is in charge of the case.
