(Washington, DC)  --  U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-OH) today alerted Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson that a constituent from Ashtabula, OH, had his monthly disability check deposited on June 1, 2006, into an account he did not open in the state of Michigan.  The veteran, Steven Michel, 33, contacted LaTourette because he fears he’s been a victim of identity theft in the aftermath of the theft of a laptop from an employee’s Maryland home.  The 34-year VA employee has been fired.

 LaTourette told the Secretary that his constituent was told by the VA that his check had been deposited into his “new” account, but the constituent never changed accounts or authorized the VA to direct-deposit his check into a different account.  The missing deposit was discovered by the veteran one week ago today when he visited a local ATM.  He immediately contacted the VA.

 LaTourette questioned the Secretary about the incident today at a hearing before the House Committee on Government Reform, of which LaTourette is a member.  Nicholson said the report about Michel was the “first instance” he heard of since the laptop theft came to light.  He vowed his assistance, but said he does not know whether it’s related to the missing data.

 “If it’s not related it’s good news for the VA.  If it is, you’ve got a big problem,” LaTourette told Nicholson at the hearing.

 LaTourette said he believes the VA is very concerned about the matter, and said they requested that Michel visit his district office today to sign papers allowing the VA to trace his bank account.  Michel signed the forms early this afternoon in LaTourette’s Painesville office.

 “My caseworkers have never seen the VA move so fast, so I think they’re taking this very, very seriously,” LaTourette said.   “Mr. Michel has still not received his monthly check, so I hope the VA will rectify this immediately.”

 Here is the statement LaTourette made at today’s hearing:

Secretary Nicholson, I appreciate you coming here today, and I want to share with you a problem involving a constituent of mine, and get your sense on what can be done, and whether this relates to the most recent data breach.

Steven Michel is 33 years old and lives in Ashtabula, OH.  He served three years in the Army during the Gulf War.   He receives an $873 disability check each month from the VA because he has a debilitating heart condition.

On June 1 – exactly one week ago – he withdrew money from his account at a local ATM and noticed his balance didn’t reflect the deposit of his monthly VA check, which is made through direct deposit. 

He immediately called the VA’s 800 number and checked on the status of the payment.  The automated system said the records couldn’t be accessed at the time, so he waited and spoke to an actual person.  He provided personal information to verify his identity and explained that his VA disability check wasn’t in his account. 

He was stunned to learn that it had been put in his “new” account.   He inquired what new account?  The woman from the VA said it was the new account he had on file.  He told her he hadn’t set up a new account and he gave her the last four digits of his existing account.  Of course, it didn’t come close to matching the new account.   She assured him the problem would be corrected.  He asked if he should visit the VA office in Cleveland, and she asked if it was close by.  He then embarked on a 45 minute drive.

He went to the regional VA office and provided them with a copy of his account.  He was told the numbers were from his old account.  He stressed that it was his current and ONLY account, and his accurate information was entered.  He was told it could take 7 days to process.  He asked if the new bogus account could be related to the theft of the laptop containing personal information for millions of veterans, and was given a toll-free number to report his problem – 800-333-4636.   This is, of course, the number to the manned call center the VA set up after the laptop theft was publicly revealed.

Mr. Michel is rightly concerned about this and wonders how his direct deposit form could be changed, and why it’s happened on the heels of reports of the stolen laptop.

He believes whoever did this must have had his name, address and Social Security number.  He doesn’t believe this is a simple computer glitch because his monthly disability check has been deposited monthly in the same account for a couple years – like clockwork.  He is even more disturbed that his bank informed him that it was possible someone phoned in the new direct deposit information to a bogus bank account in Michigan. If you could Secretary Nicholson, can you give me a sense  if this is possibly related to the stolen laptop, or if my constituent is just another unfortunate victim of account or identity theft?