Veteran guilty of $20,000 in fraudulent travel expenses

An area veteran pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to submitting fraudulent claims for the miles he said he drove to get treatment at the Dayton Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Troy J. Miller, 33, allegedly submitted travel voucher expenses of $19,974.59 from August 2014 through August 2015, saying that he had been driving to the VAMC from Lima when he actually was traveling from places within Dayton, according to a bill of information.

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U.S. District Court Judge Walter Rice accepted Miller’s guilty plea, ordered a pre-sentence report and scheduled Miller’s sentencing for Aug. 17 in Dayton’s U.S. District Court.

The non-binding, advisory sentencing range calculated by Miller’s attorney is 6-12 months in prison. The statutory maximums for false, fictitious and fraudulent claims is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Miller also will be ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined.

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Traveling from Lima to Dayton and back is approximately 160 miles round-trip. The VA website said eligible Beneficiary Travel Program (BTP) veterans can claim 41.5 cents per mile for general travel.

A 2012 internal audit of the VA’s BTP program showed it need to strengthen authorization, payment and oversight controls.

The reimbursement rate rose from 11 cents per mile starting in 1978 to 28.5 cents per mile in February 2008 and to 41.5 cents per mile in November 2008.

“As a result, BTP experienced a significant growth in both usage and cost,” the report stated. “VHA also estimated that if all veterans eligible for reimbursement sought reimbursement for their mileage, VA would incur expenses in excess of $1.5 billion per year.”

A 2012 Dayton Daily News story noted that nine local veterans filed more than $56,000 in false travel claims and that more than $2 million was paid to a total of 9,074 veterans for travel reimbursement through the Dayton VA Medical Center in fiscal year 2012, according to VA figures.

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