First, I want you to know that I checked in to the hospital for my heart bypass surgery on Tuesday May 15, 2018. I would appreciate it if you would put me in your thoughts and prayers for a successful surgery and outcome. Please continue to share my petition and GoFundMe page. After I heal from the surgery I do not have a home to go to. The rent in Sonoma County is very high. The local police and district attorney are investigating how my home was stolen from me. Hope there will be some good resolution before I am ready to be on my own again. Secondly, I want people to know that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Fiduciary Program is also at fault for the loss of my home. I had been trying to tell the VA for months that I was being taken advantage of by my VA Fiduciary, but I was not believed. When I called the VA in early March 2018 to tell them my VA Fiduciary was taking advantage of me, I was told the VA could not help me until I provided proof. What? I told him my VA appointed Fiduciary had all the proof because she would take all of the documents and wrongly told me I could not have a bank account. She kept me in the dark about everything and became very upset when I asked her questions. The VA official told me that since the VA appointed the person I was stuck with that person until I provided proof of the mismanagement of my funds. My VA Fiduciary also told me I was stuck with her, that I had "no choice" in the matter, which was all a lie. Finally someone told me I could request a new VA Fiduciary, but that it would take months! Meanwhile my VA Fiduciary sold my home with my belongings still in it. She sold it as a cash deal. The person who bought it told State of California Housing and Community Development Department that he paid $0 for it. A real estate agent gave me a report and told me my mobile home could be sold for $150,000 to $165,000. I have told the VA all of this but they continue to ignore me, claiming this is a civil matter. However, the VA Fiduciary Program is also at fault and are denying culpability. In my opinion this program needs to be dismantled. For years I have been held hostage by my VA Fiduciary because this program provides very little oversight. My VA Fiduciary told me that Eddie Quijano, Fiduciary Misuse Investigator/Designee, at the Salt Lake City Utah Regional Office fiduciary hub, gave her permission to sell my home. The VA has refused to tell me if they told my VA Fiduciary this or not. I have asked them via phone and in writing for answers. Because if the VA Fiduciary Program gave my VA Fiduciary permission to sell my home against my wishes I have the right to know on what authority (i.e., law and/or regulation) ? No one will tell me. The VA OIG rejected my complaint to have the employees at Salt Lake City fiduciary hub investigated. I was told by the VA OIG that they do not investigate complaints of VA employees who work for the VA Fiduciary Program, that the fiduciary hub responsible for the malfeasance is also responsible for investigating their own wrong doings. Now, does that make any sense to you? This is just another example of a fox guarding the hen house. The VA OIG told me to request a "subject matter expert" to explain to me on what authority is the VA Fiduciary Hub using to give VA Fiduciaries the authority to sell my home against my wishes? I thought the VA put veterans first? I tried filing a complaint with the Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/va-benefits-fraud-0 but their website also re-directs me to VA OIG to investigate, and I have already been told they do not investigate malfeasance committed in the VA Fiduciary Program by VA officials. I also called the new White House Veteran's Complaint Hotline 855-948-2311 to inform them what was and is happening to me, but they said the most they could do was send an urgent message to the Salt Lake City fiduciary hub. Meanwhile, the VA bureaucrats all have their homes, while I don't. It appears I am not alone. Thousands of veterans and beneficiaries are taken advantage of yearly and the VA hardly does anything to stop the abuses. Here is what I learned: 1) The VA Fiduciary Program has been rife with fraud stemming from fiduciaries funneling money and assets from vulnerable veterans. 2) VA OIG found that the Eastern Area Fiduciary Hub (EAFH), located in Indianapolis, did not properly investigate most complaints against fiduciaries and of the 12 determinations that were made by EAFH almost $1 million had been stolen from veterans, which means that the total dollar amount of misuse and potential fraud was likely well over $1 million had the VA properly investigated the matter– other OIG investigations have uncovered millions more missing from Veteran accounts in other hubs. 3) Part of the problem is a lack of oversight – some of the VA appointed fiduciaries have criminal records, but were still approved. 4) OIG investigations also found that the required audits of the fiduciaries were not being done by the VA, and this allowed the thefts to continue for years 5) In some cases the VA doesn’t tell the Veteran that they appointed a fiduciary and emptied the bank accounts of the Veteran. 6) In some cases, VA employees (unlawfully) gave VA fiduciaries permission to sell the Veteran’s home and unlawfully took the Social Security payments of the Veteran’s wife and gave those to the VA Fiduciary. 7) Vulnerable veterans are being wronged by both malfeasance of the VA Fiduciary and the institutional incompetence of the VA Fiduciary Program. 8) In many cases there was no medical or clinical evaluation to support the VA’s “incompetent” service rating decision. 9) Veterans are being declared incompetent because they let their spouses pay the family bills, or they have their bills automatically paid by the banks out of the Veteran’s checking account. 10) This phony declaration of incompetence is used to deny Veterans and their family members from purchasing or owning firearms. 11) In the United States, there is a process and a threshold with many keepers that must be met before taking away someone’s rights, which includes being evaluated by trained medical professionals (i.e, doctors) and the U.S., court system, but the VA does NOT abide by these standards, they have their own corrupt system where veterans are being declared incompetent by untrained bureaucrats, rather than by licensed doctors. Please urge your friends and families and those who care about what is happening to veterans to put a stop to the crimes being committed against our veterans. I believe states should pass laws regulating the conduct of individuals who serve as fiduciaries. These laws should include the appointment of special prosecutors at the state and county level to investigate and prosecute fraud, embezzlement, theft, etc., of Veteran’s money and property. The Veterans Law Blog will draft Model Legislation for your State to use: Contact Chris Attig (Support@VeteransLawBlog.org) to support legislation to protect your state’s Veterans from the VA Fraud-uciary Program. Veterans should challenge the VA’s appointment of any fiduciary that they do not know immediately by filing a “Notice of Disagreement” with the VA Regional Office. Veterans should contact attorneys in their geographical area to ask for help ensuring that the Fiduciary has complied with their own State laws involving the VA Fiduciary’s Duties to the Veteran. If you feel that your fiduciary is stealing money from a Veteran, contact your city and county District Attorney’s office. If that doesn’t work contact your States’ Attorney General’s Office. If that doesn’t work, contact your State legislators. If that doesn’t work, contact your Federal legislators. Don’t give up. Keep reaching out to these people until someone answers and helps investigates whether your VA fiduciary has committed a criminal act or acts. Everyone should contact their Federal legislators and ask them to hold hearings into the abuses visited on Veterans by these “fiduciaries.” Only through these hearing will the legislative needs of our Veterans become clear. It’s time to scrap the Fiduciary Program – Veterans don’t need any more Paternalistic & Government Sponsored fraud than they already have to deal with. A shout out to Chris Attig for providing great info and resources to veterans. We need more people like him.