Texas for-profit school operator took $72M in veterans' GI Bill cash and bought mansion, Lamborghini

[Demovictory9]

The owner of a fly-by-night Texas trade school has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for taking $72 million in GI Bill cash to give veterans HVAC training but leaving them lacking even basic skills.

Prosecutors say Jonathan Dean Davis, 43, charged up to $21,000 for a six-week program at his Retail Ready Career Center near Dallas, draining their GI Bill benefits but giving them little marketable training in heating and air conditioning repair.

When veterans would try to find work after completing the program, they would discover they were woefully underprepared for even entry-level technician jobs, prosecutors said.

Veterans said they were ‘bamboozled’
Several veterans testified at Davis’ trial that they felt “used,” “taken advantage of,” “deceived,” and “bamboozled,” after discovering that much of the post-military education benefits had been used up through the school.

Prosecutors say that in all, Davis billed the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs $72 million to train veterans, big chunks of which he used to buy a $2.2 million mansion in Dallas, a $428,000 Lamborghini, a $280,000 Ferrari, and a $260,000 Bentley.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/bamboozled-texas-for-profit-school-operator-took-72m-in-veterans-gi-bill-cash-and-bought-mansion-lamborghini-ferrari/ar-AAOKcQx?ocid=msedgntp


NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The owner of a for-profit trade school was sentenced to more than 19 years in federal prison for bilking the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of $72 million and of misleading student veterans.

------------

These agencies required applicants to certify that they were not personally facing any criminal or civil actions, and to prove that their schools were established educational institutions in stable financial condition. Knowing he could not meet these requirements, Davis repeatedly lied and concealed information from these agencies.

“Several decisions lie ahead that will ultimately make the difference if I succeed or if I fail. More gut-wrenching conversations, more humiliating experiences, more lying is in order,” Davis wrote in an electronic journal he kept on his computer, which was recovered by federal agents during a search of Retail Ready. The journal became a key piece of evidence at trial.

Davis assured the TWC that he was not subject to any civil actions, when, in fact, he was facing numerous civil judgments over unpaid debts. He also told the TWC that he was not facing any criminal charges, when, in fact, he had a pending felony charge for theft of services.


Davis told the TVC that Retail Ready had been operating as a school for two years, when, in fact, the company had only existed for a few months and had never trained any students. He claimed that Retail Ready was fully prepared to train veterans, when, in fact, the company lacked a building and basic supplies. He even lied to an independent accountant about the school’s financial condition, and then submitted false financial statements to both the TWC and the TVC.

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2021/09/22/jonathan-dean-davis-gets-nearly-20/

[sprinkleeninow]

1. 19 years in hoosegow. Yah, man, it was worth it!1

[nitpicker]

2. Link to DoJ PR

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/profit-trade-school-sentenced-nearly-20-years-defrauding-va-student-veterans

[dempls]

3. Should have been Trump's fate as well

I wonder how this differs from Trump University and how Trump walked away.

[malaise]

4. I was about to post exactly this

The Slobfather should be in prison all now for this

[Midnight Writer]

5. This is how to stop the grifting; with prison time rather than with fines.

Imagine how many fraudsters would think twice if someone like, say, Rick Scott, had done some serious prison time.

There is more money stolen by corporate fraud in a day than in a year's worth of robberies. Yet the robber goes to jail, rightfully, while the bigshot pays a fine that is written off as the cost of doing "business".