LANSING (WWJ) - A Westland woman who pleaded guilty to defrauding veteran's families out of thousands of dollars was sentenced to two years in prison, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Friday.
Melissa Flores, 54, was handed her sentence along with an order to pay back $110,000 in restitution after she conspired a get-rich scheme to rip off the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Michigan Department of Treasury, Nessel said.
Flores, along with accomplice Sophia Quill, were accused of creating aliases and creating fake documents to appear as if they were heirs to various people who had died.
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It was alleged that both Flores and Quill cheated the VA out of more than $430,000 and the Michigan Department of Treasury out of more than $40,000 in unclaimed property from 2013 to 2019.
Flores pleaded guilty last May to six counts of false pretenses and one count of forgery.
“My office will not stand for attempts to take advantage of the agencies that offer benefits to the public, especially to our brave service members and their families,” said Nessel in a press release. “I’m proud of the work done across our partner agencies to secure this sentence against Ms. Flores.”
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Quill’s son Steven Decker, 33, of Wyandotte, was also charged in the scheme; his trial is scheduled for December 2022.
“Fraudulently obtaining benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs is reprehensible and takes taxpayer dollars away from providing for deserving veterans,” said Special Agent in Charge Gregory Billingsley with the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Central Field Office.
Nessel said Quill's case was originally bound over for trial in 2021. On April 29, a bench warrant was issued for Quill's arrest after she failed to attend a pre-trial hearing.