Florida man indicted, accused of receiving stolen benefit payments from VA

FLORIDA – A Citrus County man has been charged for allegedly receiving stolen benefit payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg on Thursday announced the return of an indictment charging Robert Howard Lawrence II, 55, with one count of receiving stolen government property. If convicted, Lawrence faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and the forfeiture of at least $364,000.

According to court records, the Veterans Affairs (“VA”) Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (“DIC”) program furnishes a monthly benefit paid to eligible survivors of deceased military service members. However, if the surviving spouse remarries, they are no longer eligible to receive DIC benefits.

Lawrence was a surviving spouse of a military service member who died in 1994, and he remarried in November 1995, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO). Beginning in November 1995 and continuing through approximately April 1, 2023, Lawrence is alleged to have received DIC benefits to which he was not entitled because he repeatedly told the VA that he had not remarried.

“In fact, Lawrence had remarried twice – once in 1995 and again in 2023. By failing to report his subsequent marriages, Lawrence illegally received a total of $364,497.80 in stolen VA DIC benefit payments,” said the USAO.

An indictment is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a federal criminal offense. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General is investigating this case. Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk is prosecuting it.