Search results for : House of prayer

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Our Written Testimony on GI Bill Modernization Before the House Veterans Affairs Committee

TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM HUBBARD, VICE PRESIDENT OF VETERANS & MILITARY POLICY SUBMITTED TO THE SUBCOMMITTEES ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PRESENTED AT THE SUBCOMMITTEE JOINT OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE TOPIC OF “MODERNIZING VETERAN EDUCATION IN THE SHADOW OF COVID-19” July 20, 2022 Chairmen Levin and Mrvan, Ranking Members Moore and Rosendale, and Members of the Subcommittees: We thank you for the opportunity to share our perspective about modernizing veteran education in the shadow of COVID-19. Veterans Education Success works on a bipartisan basis to advance higher education success for veterans, service members, and military families, [...]

Results of Our Review of the Texas SAA’s Correspondence Regarding Approval of Retail Ready Career Center

Before it was raided by the FBI in June 2022, the House of Prayer Bible Seminary (HOP) reportedly received approximately $7 million in GI Bill funds from VA to educate veterans. Our review of the Georgia SAA’s approval and oversight correspondence regarding HOP revealed several concerns in the GI Bill approval process. We reviewed more than 100 pages of correspondence and documents to, from, or about HOP spanning 11 years; the Georgia SAA provided these documents in response to our public records request of June 2022, when the news of the FBI raid became public.

Our Press Release: Largest Post 9/11 GI Bill Fraud Case Yields Guilty Pleas

Contact: Ana Cobian: (323) 360.1827 [email protected] LARGEST POST 9/11 GI BILL FRAUD CASE YIELDS GUILTY PLEAS SERVES AS TRAGIC WAKE UP CALL: VA NEEDS STRONGER AUTHORITY & OVERSIGHT  US Taxpayers & Student Veterans Scammed Out of $100 Million+ WASHINGTON, D.C.- June 28, 2023. In a major fraud case at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), two individuals running a California technical school have pleaded guilty to the largest Post-9/11 GI Bill fraud scheme prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). DOJ also announced five other guilty pleas in separate cases involving veterans education benefits fraud, including two scuba [...]

Statement for the Record Submitted to the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs 118th Congress, First Session

Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Moran, and Members of the Committee: We thank you for the opportunity to share this statement for consideration during this hearing, which includes many notable bills addressing topics in higher education and veterans education benefits. Veterans Education Success is a nonprofit organization with the mission of advancing higher education success for veterans, service members, and military families, and protecting the integrity and promise of the GI Bill and other federal education programs. In this statement, we address the following topics: the establishment of a Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration (S. 291), a technical adjustment of [...]

Major Step Forward in Justice for Veterans – Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Bill Drops

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ana Cobian (323)360-1827 [email protected] “Major Step Forward in Justice Long Overdue for Student Veterans” as New Bill: Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act Drops House Veterans Affairs to Hold Thursday Hearing on “Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act” A Critical First Step to Enable Scammed Veterans to Restart their Education, Go to College, Get Training, or Attend Graduate School  WASHINGTON, DC - MAR. 28, 2023—Veterans who were scammed by predatory colleges out of their hard-earned GI Bill benefits will have an opportunity to have benefits they were promised restored under a new bill, H.R. 1767, the Student Veteran [...]

WTOC: FBI raided Hinesville church over possible VA fraud, according to court documents

Veterans Education Success, a non-profit that helps service members further their education, says they’ve been raising concerns over the school for years. Sending letters to the VA and Georgia’s State Approving Agency in 2020. “We would like for any of the policymakers and legislators to learn from the experience of the veterans at the school, to learn from the experience of the veterans at this kind of school, and strengthen those kinds of program approval requirements, so it’s not so easy for a school to suddenly gain access to millions of really hard-earned G.I. Bill benefits,” said Della Justice, the [...]

Military News: Feds Try to Seize Money, Property from Church Accused of Multimillion-Dollar Scheme Targeting Vets

The investigation was spurred in 2020 after Veterans Education Success, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that lobbies on military education issues, raised concerns about the church to the VA and lawmakers. "All veterans should feel proud of the student veterans who alerted us to the ways the House of Prayer was mistreating them and taking their VA benefits. By speaking out, these student veterans have helped reclaim stolen GI Bill funds," Carrie Wofford, president of Veterans Education Success, told Military.com. "We are glad DOJ is seizing these bank accounts and recouping some of the stolen $7 million in GI Bill [...]

WRDW: Raided church accused in multimillion-dollar VA fraud scheme

A nonprofit said it had been warning about these facilities for years. Veterans Education Success, a nonprofit that helps veterans find educational opportunities, says the House of Prayer churches committed fraud by taking GI Bill funding and not providing a proper education in return. Read the full column at WRDW here.

Court Watch: Exclusive: Church Preyed on Veterans and Stole Millions, says DOJ

In 2020, Veterans Success Education, a nonprofit which advocates for higher education standards for military members and their families sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs asking the agency to investigate what it believed was widespread fraud and abuse of the GI bill. Whistleblowers told Veterans Success Education that, the House of Prayer “is lying to VA during inspections, defrauding veterans by keeping students enrolled perpetually without providing them with marketable training, and providing them with no actual education Della Justice, Vice President for Legal Affairs with Veterans Success Education told Court Watch that the organization was “pleased that the [...]

WRGA-FM (Atlanta, GA): Radio Interview with Will Hubbard on ITT Tech Loan Forgiveness

We're very excited that the Biden administration has is taking important and long overdue steps to cancel some of these loans that these students had. Unfortunately, veterans that might have used the GI Bill are being left out. And that's largely because it's two different types of money. The money that's being canceled, the loans that are being canceled are coming from the US Department of Education, whereas veterans who might have used the GI Bill that's at the US Department of Veterans Affairs and that's not covered, which is unfortunately something that we're looking to change. Unfortunately, a lot [...]

Military.com: Church that Allegedly Scammed GI Bill Benefits Is Proof More Oversight Is Needed, Advocate Tells Congress

An advocacy group told a House panel on Wednesday that a church alleged to have scammed veterans out of millions of dollars in service benefits should be a wake-up call for regulators of GI Bill education payments. The testimony by the Veterans Education Success advocacy group was part of a House Veterans Affairs panel that delved into which schools are eligible to receive the benefits. Lawmakers are also considering new legislation to better protect veterans, which could signal coming changes as the House of Prayer activities come to light. Veterans often believe they are going to a school that has [...]

WTOC (Savannah, GA): Churches at center of FBI raid lose recommendation, removed from VA’s school list

“We knew that this school had a troubling and problematic history. We’ve spoken with many students and whistleblowers who worked at the school and were able to detail the practices that they were taking at the school,” said Will Hubbard, with Veterans Education Success. Veterans Education Success, a non-profit that helps veterans find educational opportunities, says the House of Prayer churches committed fraud by taking G.I. Bill funding and not providing a proper education in return. “At this point, we’re cautioning service members and their family members all to steer clear,” Hubbard said. “Unfortunately, we saw for up to over [...]

Oral Testimony of William Hubbard, Vice President for Veterans & Military Policy on the topic of “Modernizing Veteran Education In The Shadow Of Covid-19”

House Veterans’ Affairs Joint Oversight Hearing Subcommittees On Economic Opportunity and Technology Modernization Oral Testimony of William Hubbard, Vice President for Veterans & Military Policy on the topic of “Modernizing Veteran Education In The Shadow Of Covid-19” July 20, 2022 Chairmen Levin and Mrvan, Ranking Members Moore and Rosendale, and Members of the Subcommittees: We thank you for the opportunity to share our perspective about modernizing veteran education in the shadow of COVID-19. Veterans Education Success works on a bipartisan basis to advance higher education success for veterans, service members, and military families, and to protect the integrity and promise [...]

Military.com: How a Church Allegedly Scammed Millions in VA Money from Vets

Will Hubbard, the vice president for veterans and military policy at Veterans Education Success, an advocacy group, told Military.com that regulators should have spotted the red flags with the church. "I think your average taxpayer or veteran, or really anybody is going to be like, 'How did this happen?'" Hubbard said. "The answer is poor front-end filters. A school like this should have never been approved for the GI Bill." The SAAs started cracking down on House of Prayer earlier this year, following a complaint from Veterans Education Success outlining allegations against the church and accusing it of "defrauding veterans [...]

The News & Observer: Christian school duped veterans on GI Bill in NC, advocates say. ‘Really sickening’

Veterans Education Success, a Washington D.C.-based veterans advocacy organization, sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2020 outlining a series of allegations against the church that were gathered from students and members. Some students described the church as “cult-like,” telling Veterans Education Success that members who questioned church leaders were publicly humiliated and those who tried to leave were stalked and harassed. “When I see schools taking advantage of service member veterans and their families, it really makes me sick to my stomach, because I know the challenges that they’ve gone through, in a lot of cases, [...]

WRAL-TV (Fayetteville, NC): Fayetteville church accused of defrauding veterans, operating like a cult

House of Prayer Christian Church is less than two miles from Fort Bragg. Veterans Education Success, an advocacy group, says the church used that close proximity to prey on veterans, Eleven pages of concerning or outright illegal behavior documented by Veterans Education Success was sent to the U.S. Department of Veterans in August 2020. The advocacy group alleged the church acted like a cult and defrauded veterans of thousands of dollars in disability and education benefits while church leaders led a lavish lifestyle. "The behavior is just criminal," said Veterans Education Success vice president Will Hubbard. Hubbard said the Fayetteville location is [...]

Army Times: Nationwide FBI raids target alleged ‘cult’ near five Army posts

It’s also not clear why authorities are investigating the organization, though non-profit Veterans Education Success wrote a letter to federal and Georgia authorities in 2020 that accused the church of operating “like a cult” and running a sham seminary program to siphon millions of dollars of G.I. Bill benefits from soldiers and veterans. The letter also said the FBI may have been investigating potential mortgage fraud by the organization. No seminary students ever received academic records or a completion certificate either, according to the letter from Veterans Education Success. One former member cited in the letter said they attended one [...]

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