If this turns out to be true, it's disgusting.
http://www.khou.com/home/Houston-lawyer-wife-accused-of-stealing-from-vets-106895918.html
http://www.khou.com/home/Houston-lawyer-wife-accused-of-stealing-from-vets-106895918.html
Posted on November 8, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Updated yesterday at 1:37 PM
HOUSTON -- When Shirley German couldn’t get her son’s guardian—an attorney handpicked by the Department of Veterans Affairs—to fork over $250 for Thanksgiving dinner for the disabled U.S. Marine and his family, she sensed something askew.
Her son, after all, had more than $200,000 in veteranÂ’s benefits saved in accounts the guardian controlled.
That man, Joe B. Phillips, a 71-year-old Houston lawyer and former VA employee, now stands accused of stealing more than $2 million from at least 28 Texas veterans and hiding those thefts with faked bank statements, padded expenses and even imaginary accounts verified with forged signatures, according to dozens of civil suits and a 2010 federal court indictment.