Criminal Investigative Updates

Eight individuals from Georgia and Florida connected to the House of Prayer Christian Churches of America (HOPCC) in Hinesville, Georgia, were indicted for various fraud schemes and tax charges. According to the indictment, the group’s leader posed as “Rony Denis,” an identity he allegedly stole in 1983. Using that identity, he became a US citizen in 2002 and went on to establish HOPCC and its affiliate House of Prayer Bible Seminary. Denis and the other defendants are accused of exploiting military personnel by recruiting them into the church, directing them to enroll in the seminary, and then using their VA education benefits to funnel money into church-controlled accounts. The VA OIG, FBI, IRS, Federal Housing Finance Authority, Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the US Postal Inspection Service are investigating this case.

The New Horizons Computer Learning Center in Jacksonville, Florida, and its owner—Coastal Corporate Training, Inc.—have agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve allegations that the school overcharged the VA. Between 2015 and 2020, Coastal Corporate Training, Inc. failed to deduct tuition waivers from the tuition billed to the VA for students receiving less than 100-percent assistance under the GI Bill; falsely certified compliance with Title 38 by paying commissions, bonuses, or other incentive payments to enrollment representatives; and falsely certified compliance with the “85/15” rule.  The VA OIG investigated this case.   

Anthony Curtis Brewer, of Tallahassee, was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with theft of government property in the Northern District of Florida. His trial is scheduled for November 4, 2025. The VA OIG investigated this case.

Alexis Beatles, of Hinesville, Georgia, was convicted on charges of Interstate Communications with Threats to Injure Another. On December 18, 2024, Beatles called a VA hotline and made demands to the phone operator and threatened to kill federal employees and others if his demands were not met. He made numerous threats, including threatening to crash his car into the Savannah VA Clinic, to “destroy” US citizens, to rig his home with explosives to kill any police officers that came to his house, and to kill the children of any officers who attempted to arrest him. The VA OIG, FBI, and Savannah Police Department investigated this case.

Joseph Mandour, owner of Sanford Federal, Inc., agreed to pay $3,100,000 to resolve allegations that he and his company violated the False Claims Act in the acquisition and performance of 49 government contracts. Allegedly, Mandour knowingly misrepresented the identities of individuals alleged to be employees, used unknown persons and fraudulent credentials to sweeten contract bids, and misrepresented Sanford’s size to acquire set-aside contracts in violation of Small Business Administration rules. It also alleged that he acquired a service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-aside contract and then knowingly violated a limitation on subcontracting that required such contracts to be performed by service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. The VA OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Commerce OIG, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and Army Criminal Investigation Division investigated this case.