A second U.S. Army reservist from Utah’s 76th Operational Response Command was indicted by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City for military pay fraud at Fort Douglas, Utah, during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to court documents, Captain Jean Philippe Martial, 48, of Midvale, Utah, defrauded the United States out of more than $140,000 in unearned military pay entitlements from June 2019 to September 2021.
Recently, Colonel Reece Roberts, formerly of Utah’s 76th Operational Response Command, pled guilty to filing a fraudulent claim against the United States, conspiring to defraud the United States, and other federal crimes.
A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City, Utah, returned an indictment on February 21, 2024, charging a U.S. Army Reserve Colonel, formerly of Utah’s 76th Operational Response Command, for his role in defrauding the United States out of more than $60,000 in unearned military pay entitlements.
The announcement comes as part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s ongoing efforts with the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division to address military pay fraud during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to court documents, Reece Dennis Roberts, 53, of Herriman, Utah, misrepresented his and his family’s primary residence in Utah, fabricated lease and listing documents, and submitted over a dozen false vouchers to military officials from June 2020 through July 2021.
Though Roberts and his family lived in Herriman, Utah, from 2020–2021, the indictment alleges that, upon receiving orders calling him to active duty at Fort Douglas, Utah, Roberts changed his primary residence to an out-of-state address that neither he nor his family occupied. In doing so, Roberts claimed entitlement to a family separation allowance, reimbursement for personal lodging expenses, and other entitlements unavailable to local servicemembers.
As further alleged in the indictment, the defendant duped military officials into paying him $3,700 monthly in lodging reimbursements for a house he did not rent or own. The indictment alleges he accomplished this by fabricating a lease agreement and online listing for the fictitious rental, orchestrating sham rent payments, and repeatedly submitting false vouchers to military officials.
Additionally, Roberts allegedly worked with an unindicted co-conspirator, recruited a third person to receive sham rent payments and return the payments to Roberts’ bank account using Venmo. This allowed Roberts to create fake rent receipts submitted monthly to military officials for reimbursement.
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