OAN’s Brooke Mallory
6:08 PM – Tuesday, April 16, 2024
The U.S. attorney’s office stated on Tuesday that a former financial counselor for the United States Army had entered a guilty plea to cheating the families of slain service members out of life insurance premiums.
According to the organization, Gold Star family members are eligible to a $100,000 payment plus the service member’s life insurance, which can be up to $400,000, if they are the immediate beneficiary of a service member who has died while serving in the military on active duty.
Prosecutors said that Colts Neck, New Jersey, resident “Caz Craffy,” 41, entered a guilty plea to taking more than $9.9 million from multiple Gold Star families to invest in accounts that Craffy handled in his personal capacity without the families’ consent.
In addition to serving as a financial counselor with the Casualty Assistance Office as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army, Craffy was a major in the U.S. Army Reserves, having enrolled there since 2003, according to the prosecution.
Prosecutors claim that between May 2018 and November 2022, Craffy earned over $1.4 million in commissions while the Gold Star family accounts lost over $3.7 million.
“Those who target and steal from the families of fallen American service members will be held accountable for their crimes,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in the press release. “Nothing can undo the enormous loss that Gold Star families have suffered, but the Justice Department is committed to doing everything in our power to protect them from further harm,” he added.
According to a press release from the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office, on Tuesday, Craffy entered a guilty plea to 10 counts, which included six counts of wire fraud and one count each of securities fraud, making false statements in a loan application, acting in a way that affected a personal financial interest, and lying to a federal agency.
“Caz Craffy admitted today that he brazenly took advantage of his role as an Army financial counselor to prey upon families of our fallen service members, at their most vulnerable moment, using lies and deception,” stated U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
“These Gold Star families have laid the dearest sacrifice on the altar of freedom. And they deserve our utmost respect and compassion, as well as some small measure of financial security from a grateful nation,” he continued.
In Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner accepted Craffy’s plea. His sentence is set for August 21st.
Prosecutors say that as part of his plea deal, Craffy will serve eight to 10 years in prison. The amount of his restitution will be disclosed when he is sentenced.
Craffy’s alleged X (Twitter) profile bio reads: “Life was never easy. Rising up from the ashes into what I am today, well, that’s pure determination, persistence, & tenacity.”
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