Leader of Missouri Veteran Program Allegedly Stole over $36K to Pay Debts

A Missouri man who is the vice president of a nonprofit that assists veterans allegedly embezzled over $36,000.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 42-year-old Brett Aaron Leary is vice president of the Gateway Warrior Foundation, an organization that helps provide service dogs to military veterans. He was charged in St. Louis County Circuit Court on one felony count of stealing.

Service dogs “can be trained to perform and variety of tasks, and their work helps individuals with disabilities and impairments lead more fulfilling and independent lives,” according to DAV.org.

“He tried to repay the organization, but his $36,000 check bounced,” the Post-Dispatch said.

The nonprofit has since said its board of directors reported the theft to law enforcement not long after it learned of the situation. Now, it is cooperating with officials investigating the case. The leaders also said they will continue assisting the nation’s veterans.

The Gateway Warrior Foundation’s website says it is “Helping veterans in need.” In March, the organization urged people to register for its 14th annual golf classic at a country club scheduled for October.

The Post-Dispatch article continued:

Soon after Leary became vice president, the foundation closed its previous bank account and opened a new one with Leary as the account’s sole administrator, according to charging documents. As part of the move, Leary was given a debit card and checks for the bank account.

Months later, the foundation’s treasurer requested bank statements and saw that Leary had written multiple checks to himself totaling “several thousand dollars,” without listing a reason for the expenses, according to charging documents. The treasurer was not named in the probable cause statement.

Leary eventually told the board members he took the money from the organization to pay off loans and credit card debt. He tried to pay back the money, however, the bank he used denied it because he did not have sufficient funds, the Post-Dispatch report said.

In March 2016, a woman was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for embezzling more than $141,000 in benefits from the nation’s veterans, Breitbart News reported at the time.

“Cornelia V. Hurling was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge David A. Ezra in San Antonio after she pleaded guilty to the felony of misappropriation by a Veterans Affairs fiduciary. Hurling was a resident of San Antonio,” the outlet stated.