Gold Star families allegedly defrauded of death benefits by adviser

A U.S. Army Reserves Major and financial counselor, Caz Craffy, is facing multiple criminal charges for allegedly defrauding Gold Star families of their deceased loved ones’ military benefits.

Allegations Explained: Craffy, also working as a financial counselor with the Army’s Survivor Outreach Services in New Jersey, allegedly deceived grieving families into transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars of their military benefits to him.
* From May 2018 to January 2023, the accounts of Craffy’s alleged victims decreased by more than $3.4 million, while Craffy earned about $1.4 million in commissions.

Facing Legal Action: The Justice Department has laid multiple charges on Craffy including six counts of wire fraud and one count each of securities fraud.
* He has also been charged for providing false statements in a loan application, for committing acts furthering a personal financial interest, and for making false statements to a federal agency, according to court documents.
* The Securities and Exchange Commission has additionally charged Craffy with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and Regulation Best Interest.

Government Response: Attorney General Merrick Garland voiced that conduct which targets the families of fallen American servicemembers will face stern action from the Justice Department.
* “Stealing from Gold Star families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation is a shameful crime,” said Garland.
* Prosecutors explained that Craffy manipulated his position with the Army’s Outreach program to gain the trust of his alleged victims.

Work Deception: Additionally, while working for the Army, Craffy failed to disclose his employment with two unnamed private financial firms as declared by the indictment.
* This non-disclosure allowed him to manipulate families into transferring their benefits to brokerage accounts he managed outside of his Army employment, often leading to high-risk trades and substantial losses for the families.

View original article on NPR

This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.

Contact us about this post

Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *