A 68-year-old man has been charged with multiple felonies after trying to pass himself off as a Vietnam veteran.
Douglas Robinson was arrested in Wisconsin on Saturday on a warrant issued sometime after he visited Kendall County's Veterans Assistance Commission in August.
According to a statewide bulletin sent out by a coalition of veterans groups, Robinson and his wife have been visiting local veterans relief organizations, claiming he is an Army veteran. Robinson and his wife ask for help with food and housing, and claim they are fighting with the Army to get benefits he is owed since he retired in 1999, the bulletin said.
Kendall County Veterans Commission Superintendent Ed Dixon said he suspected something wasn't right with the story almost as soon as Robinson walked into his office.
"We debunked most of it," Dixon said. "Self-initiated forms don't count. I need verification that you're a veteran."
According to Dixon, Robinson supplied several documents with conflicting military ID numbers. When Dixon contacted the national military personnel center in St. Louis, two of the IDs came back to other real soldiers and a third had no match.
"He had lots and lots of different paperwork," said Kendall County Sheriff's Deputy Wayne Dial.
"How he obtained that paperwork, we have no idea. He was absolutely not a veteran."
Robinson was charged with theft of government-supported property and state benefits fraud, both felonies, police said.
He had received some services from the county before the verification came through, police said.
Robinson is currently being held by the Madison, Wis., police department, awaiting extradition. His wife, who Dixon said also presented herself as a veteran, has not been charged with a crime.
The national alert also mentioned that Robinson and his wife have told the same story in states across the country, including Minnesota and Virginia.
While Kendall County authorities said this case is unusual, Dixon -- the past national president of VietNow -- has seen frauds like this before.
"There have been many, many people posing as veterans," he said.
"But it's against the law to impersonate a veteran for financial gain. I got enough veterans in this county that really need it."
Ron Cook, who handles veterans' issues in State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia's Aurora office, said Robinson also received a gift certificate from them under the same guise. Cook said the office plans to contact police.
"This kind of abuse is not what the money is set aside for," Cook said. "I can show you a whole slug of deserving people who need help."