U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General South Central Field Office 4040 N. Central Expwy, Suite 500 Dallas, TX 75204-3158 (214) 253-3360
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Navy Personnel Clerk Indicted
John McDermott, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Inspector General (OIG), announced today that in United States District Court, for the Northern District of Texas, located in Dallas, Texas, Sambau Mau was sentenced to thirty months in prison and ordered to pay $348,653.16 in restitution. Following his release from prison, Mau will also have to serve 36 months under a supervised release program. McDermott stated that the conviction of Mau resulted from an investigation conducted by his South Central Field Office. The investigation revealed that Mau had developed a scheme to defraud the VA by fraudulently obtaining Education Benefits under the VA Tuition Assistance program for active duty members of the United States military. Mau used personal information from United States Navy servicemen to apply for and receive these benefits without their knowledge. Additionally, Mau conspired with other members of the United States Navy to defraud the VA by purporting that these members were furthering their education by attending classes, when, in fact, they were only interested in obtaining the VA benefits. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas, Texas, prosecuted this case.