LANSING, Mich. — Melissa Flores has been sentenced to two years in prison for co-conspiring in a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Michigan Department of Treasury.
According to the Michigan Department of Attorney General, Flores and Sophia Quill allegedly created aliases and obtained or created fraudulent documents to make it look like they were the heirs of people who had died. It is alleged that Flores and Quill defrauded the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs out of more than $430,000. It is also alleged that they defrauded the Michigan Department of Treasury out of more than $40,000 in unclaimed property.
Last May, Flores plead guilty to the following:
- Two counts of false pretenses between $20,000 and $50,000.
- One count of forgery of documents affecting real property.
- Four counts of false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000.
“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.
“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 Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “I’m proud of the work done across our partner agencies to secure this sentence against Mrs. Flores.”
Quill’s son Steven Decker has also been charged in the scheme. His trial is set to for December 2022.
