Check mixup not related to laptop, VA says

("Without seeing the proof myself, I don't care what they tell me over the phone," said Michel, a Gulf War-era veteran who has a heart condition. "My trust with the VA has been shattered.")

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1149928924191950.xml&coll=2

Saturday, June 10, 2006
Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Bureau

Washington - The theft of a laptop computer that contained records on 26.5 million veterans had nothing to do with the diversion of an Ashtabula veteran's June disability check into an incorrect bank account, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Friday.

The unauthorized change to 33-year-old Steven Michel's account was put into the department's computer system on April 27, almost a week before the computer theft from a VA employee's Maryland residence on May 3, said department spokesman Matt Burns...

"Without seeing the proof myself, I don't care what they tell me over the phone," said Michel, a Gulf War-era veteran who has a heart condition. "My trust with the VA has been shattered."

VA spokesman Burns said Michel's earlier check wasn't affected because department computers didn't process the April 27 change until May 3. Burns said the VA is still investigating the cause of Michel's problem but "can say with certainty that it was not related to the recent data
theft."...


Friday, June 09, 2006
Vet fears check was taken with VA data

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/isvet/1149852765266930.xml?isvet&coll=2

Friday, June 09, 2006
Staff and wire reports

Washington- An Ashtabula veteran who says his June disability check was diverted to a fraudulent bank account fears his problem resulted from the theft of a laptop computer that contained records on 26.5 million U.S. veterans, Rep. Steve LaTourette told Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson at a hearing on Capitol Hill.

Nicholson said he didn't know whether 33-year-old Steven Michel's personal data was compromised by the May 3 theft from a VA employee's home and promised to help resolve the case. He called it the "first incidence" of identity theft he's heard of since the security breach.

"If it's not related, it's good news for the VA," LaTourette told Nicholson at the Thursday hearing. "If it is, you've got a big problem."

On June 1, Michel noticed that his $873 disability check hadn't been deposited to his bank account, as it has been for years. The VA told Michel, a Gulf War era veteran with congestive heart failure, that it had deposited his check into a "new" bank account. Michel immediately visited the VA's Cleveland office to correct his records and contacted LaTourette...


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1389669&mesg_id=1389669

Would they lie?