A man who once served in the Navy, along with his wife, pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court Thursday to defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Rafael Castro, 50, and Miriam Castro, 48, both of Oceanside, received more than $130,000 by claiming for years that he was unemployed and required full-time care from his wife.
Yet Rafael Castro was working full-time jobs and had received several promotions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He did not, as he and his wife said, need her assistance with basic activities such as dressing himself and taking care of his personal hygiene, according to prosecutors.
As a result of their claims, Miriam Castro was paid to be her husband’s full-time home health aide and received the equivalent of 40-hour per-week payments through the VA’s Caregiver Support Program, which provides benefits for injured veterans.
For nearly six years, beginning in the fall of 2018, Rafael Castro falsely claimed several times to VA representatives that he was unemployed, but prosecutors said he actually worked for the Veterans Health Administration and briefly for the Internal Revenue Service.
“This case is an excellent example of the importance of internal inspections within government programs,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “Without the intervention from the Inspector General’s Office, this fraud might have continued indefinitely.”
The couple is slated to return to court April 25. The wire fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine.
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