Men Who Defrauded The VA Of Over $800,000 Plead Guilty

Two men from the Tri-Cities area have plead guilty to bribery and fraud charges after they scammed the Veterans Administration out of over $800,000. According to US District Court documents, 54 year old Eric Smith of Bristol and 36 year old Landon Chester of Johnson City worked as surgical sales representatives for an independent distributor of a nationwide orthopedic company that manufactured replacement joints and products that are used during surgeries in which those joints were implanted.

In June 2018, Chester and Smith formed their own company and began selling their own acquired inventory to the VA at inflated prices or when those products were not necessary. The two men also conspired and paid cash bribes of more than $80,000 to two VA Medical Center employees to commit, collude, and aid in the fraud against the VA. Their actions resulted in losses to the VA in excess of $850,000. The two men plead guilty in US District Court in Greeneville on Thursday to conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services wire fraud. The two face up to 5 years in Federal prison, and $250,000 in fines. They will be sentenced on May 30th.

The two VA employees who took the bribes were indicted separately.