Virginia Man Who Stole Millions From Federal Agency Pleads Guilty

ALEXANDRIA, VA — An official at a school that offers job training programs to veterans was convicted this week of defrauding the federal government of nearly $3 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

Jeffrey Williams, 37, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty to wire fraud on Wednesday in connection with a scheme to defraud the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

According to court documents, Williams used false records to defraud the VA of millions of dollars from about July 2022 to May 2024. During that time, Williams was a career services manager at a Virginia school that offers veterans educational programs paid for by the VA.

As part of the scheme, Williams created fraudulent employment offer letters, falsified certifications and forged veterans’ signatures to make it appear as if the veterans had attained the employment needed for the educational institution to receive tuition payments from the government.

According to prosecutors, Williams submitted hundreds of false documents to the VA and collected about $2.9 million in fraudulent tuition payments for at least 189 veterans.

Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 17 and faces up to 20 years in prison.

The VA Office of Inspector General investigated the case.