Navy vet says VA cut her disability check in half over job she never had | WSB-Tv

VA cut a local veterans disability check because she was working a full-time job, but she says she's never even heard of the town where the job was and never worked there. Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray has reported on this same problem happening with other veterans. This evening he is live in Duluth.

Yeah, Linda, this is the office where they say she was working, but she lives down in Warner Robins. We put her address in the GPS. It's a two hour right now is two hours and 20 minutes. A bit ago, two hour journey just one way, and the company they even sent this

letter to the VA saying this woman

never worked there.

Already lost a vehicle.

Her monthly Department of Veterans Affairs benefit checks cut in half from 4000 to $1900 Georgia Navy veteran Yasmina Covington says she can't keep up with the bills. Now

I gotta decide am I gonna buy groceries this month or keep the water in the light something like it's a constant battle. The VA

cut this formerly 100% disabled veterans benefits because government records show she earned $57,947 in 2023 at a packaging company called Westrock in Duluth, a hundred and seventeen miles from her Warner Robins home. I've never been to Duluth. I've never met anybody from Duluth. Covington even got the Human Resources Department of West Rock to send the VA this letter confirming

she was not an employee channel to Action News investigates reported on the same thing happening this spring to other veterans.

It's hard to hold back tears me. It's hard to hold back.

The VA told Roosevelt Smith his benefits were being cut for working at a diner he'd never heard of.

He said I didn't report my earnings. I'm like, I didn't generate any earnings.

Virginia Franklin was told she made six figures last year, but she hasn't worked since 2004. Both Smith and Franklin had their benefits restored after Channel 2 Action News got involved. This means that Covington has appealed the benefits cut, but so far gotten nowhere

with getting this resolved. I know I did nothing wrong and others haven't done anything wrong and now they all of us are potentially at risk of losing the little bit that we do have and it's not fair.

And so I did reach out to the Department of Veterans Affairs. A spokesman tells me because of the shutdown, there's not anything they can do today. They said as soon as the shutdown is over, they're going to have the benefits department do an investigation

into this case and again, the two previous veterans that we interviewed about this after we got involved did get their money back. We're going gonna continue to follow this. We're live in Gwinnett County, Justin Gray Channel two Action

News. Justin, I hope you get the same result once the government is back open News. Justin, I hope you get the same result once the government is back open again and they can look into this case. Justin, thank you.