Woman Steals Over $2.8 Million From Veterans — But Karma Just Took Care Of Her For Good

A New Jersey woman was sentenced to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to stealing $2.8 million from a federally funded program for veterans.

Elizabeth Honig, 52, the owner of a computer training school program in Eatontown, New Jersey, was sentenced to prison for the theft of government funds.

Honig was additionally ordered to pay more than $2.8 million in restitution, according to NJ.com. After completing her prison sentence, she will be subject to supervised release for three years.

The school owned by Honig, Computer Insight Learning Center, received federal funding to help more than 180 veterans receive training for high-demand occupations. However, authorities said that the majority of the veterans enrolled by Honig were either ineligible or were not attending the training.

Honig reportedly applied for benefits herself by posing as a veteran. She also allowed 62 out-of-state veterans to join her school despite the Department of Veterans Affairs’ requirement that veterans must learn on site because the shool was not approved for online classes.

According to William Fitzpatrick, the acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Honig did not report low attendance to the VA as she was legally required to, which caused the VA to continue paying veterans who were not entitled to the funds.

Honig told the VA and the Department of Labor that the ineligible veterans enrolled in her 14-week-long Business Software Applications Program.

“Honig’s monthly fee of approximately $750 also resulted in overpayments by veterans far in excess of the VA approved $4,000 course tuition,” Fitzpatrick said.

Honig reportedly logged into the applications system more than 100 times to falsely claim that she was a veteran so she could collect benefits.

“She supplied false information about employment status to qualify to attend her school and receive funding from the VA,” said Fitzpatrick, according to App. “Honig then certified to the VA that the veterans enrolled in her Business Software Applications Program — approved by the VA as a 14-week course costing approximately $4,000 — were attending for up to one year.”

Readers shared their thoughts on the story in the comments section on NJ.com.

“Two years for stealing almost 3 million dollars, not bad,” one reader commented. “And when she gets out of prison she has a criminal record and must find a job in order to pay back 3 million in restitution. Yea, that’s gonna happen.”

“Stick her in a foreign POW camp and let her see what our veterans went through that she ripped off,” another user wrote. “Disgusting.”

Sources: NJ.com, App / Featured Image: Pixabay / Embedded Images: Pexels (2)