Sailors Charged in Marriage Scheme

[RiceOwl06]

I saw this in the news today, and I thought it was pretty funny and sad at the same time. I always thought that giving more money to those with dependants would encourage marriage for the wrong reasons, but I also didn't think that it would encourage fraud. Oh well, those guys will get what's coming to them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060412/ap_on_re_us/navy_sham_marriages_3

 

[usnphoenix]

Wow. Hard to believe that they could be that stupid.

 

[HH-60H]

... but I also didn't think that it would encourage fraud.

Wow. Hard to believe that they could be that stupid.

You guys haven't met too many Sailors have you?

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know by far the majority of all Sailors are honest and would not do this, but it isn't too hard to find the few Sailors in each unit who would be open to these sorts of ideas. Those same Sailors are often weeded out in their first years of service because they get caught in some other scam.

 

[Ave8tor]

You guys haven't met too many Sailors have you?

Not to mention Marines.

I know quite a few individuals in the active duty side that have arranged marriages, either to other members in the unit or friends from "back home" just to get out of the barracks! It's absurd to think that someone would get married just to move off base, but its happening at an alarming rate! Even at Miramar, most commands won't let you have the option of living off base even if you are a Sergeant. Assuming that one makes it to Sergeant in the Marines is a pretty good indication that they know how to handle their behavior and should have the opportunity to live out in town.
I have lived in the barracks, and while it can be aggravating with all of the repetition, such as field-day Thursdays and duty section clean up in the mornings, there really is no need to get hitched just to escape. Rent, utilities and other similar factors are things to consider rather than just the fact that they get more money. Many of these individuals that I have known were bad with managing their finances, so now another problem arises from these arranged marriages. Not to mention that when one leaves the Marines, so dissolves the marriage. Is there any wonder why the divorce rate is so high in the US military?

 

[grnweenie]

I can count three people I went to high school with that married for the extra money and off base housing. One of them actually turned into love while the other two marriages broke down.

 

[HOORAH]

One of my ex's told me about it. That was the first I'd heard of it actually happening. He said though, being stationed in San Diego, they do this with Mexican girls down there. They send them like $200.00 a month and keep the rest for themselves. That's a lot of money to a Mexican and the Sailors make out big. Funny that people take marriage so lightly. Note: My ex was not condoning it. We simply got into a discussion about it. I think I asked if people do it. He said yes and proceded. /end note

I'm a member of another military group and some (stupid, I would have to conclude)(Marine) Sgt was advertising his friend for a contract marriage. What an idiot. Posting something that is illegal on the internet does not prove you are the sharpest knife in the drawer. Everyone in the group ganged up on him and I think someone emailed the post to his command. He tried to defend himself by saying it's not him he's just posting for his friend. Yeah, because helping someone commit a crime is completely fine. Note the sarcasm.

 

[Fezz CB]

I too also know of a couple that married for money/citizenship. It actually turned into love and a baby came out of it. I guess love is blind.

 

[webmaster]

Those crazy sailors!

Eight sailors were charged Tuesday with arranging sham marriages to Polish and Romanian women to help the women obtain U.S. citizenship and to collect bigger military housing allowances for themselves.

As mentioned above, enterprising sailors (cough, and officers) have worked every concievable angle over the years. This is pretty much the standard article, change the date, add new names and ships, and reprint. As HH-60H said, haven't met many sailors have you? lol I remember being in Norfolk in the early 90s, quite a few had marriages of convenience. And I am more than certain that this is still going on. The other side to this though, is Seaman Jones coming back from deployment to find the house trashed, his "wife" ran up bills and trashed his credit, yada yada yada....

Other variations on a theme, PSD used to do checks on what single sailors where living at the same address and not reporting it.....

I know the military has been discussing doing away with the differences between married and non-married housing allowance differences. I doubt with the budget as tight as it is currently, that it will come to fruition anytime soon.

 

[Old NFO]

As mentioned above, enterprising sailors (cough, and officers) have worked every concievable angle over the years. This is pretty much the standard article, change the date, add new names and ships, and reprint. As HH-60H said, haven't met many sailors have you? lol I remember being in Norfolk in the early 90s, quite a few had marriages of convenience. And I am more than certain that this is still going on. The other side to this though, is Seaman Jones coming back from deployment to find the house trashed, his "wife" ran up bills and trashed his credit, yada yada yada....

Other variations on a theme, PSD used to do checks on what single sailors where living at the same address and not reporting it.....

I know the military has been discussing doing away with the differences between married and non-married housing allowance differences. I doubt with the budget as tight as it is currently, that it will come to fruition anytime soon.

This is VERY true, and has been for "years" going back to at least WWII. During Nam, we did Frequent Wind and Eagle Pull; a large number of RVN refugees ended up at Grande Island in the PI. There were "open" offers of $50,000 in gold to marry an RVN female so they could get themselves and their families into the States. I personally knew 5-6 folks that did it, 2 O's 2E's and one CPO.

The other side was the beach bunnies at P'cola that would marry SNA's, Helo pilots from Rucker and others but never travel to follow on assignments. They were in it for the $$ and hoping the "hubby" would buy the farm. There was at least one case in Diego of a woman who was married to FIVE Marines at the same time, just to collect the death benefits. She got caught because she used the same address and had collected on 3 or 4 death benefits when the SGLI folks noticed all the checks going to the same address and name.

 

[Hozer]

a little more skinny...

For you Div-O's to be out there...
This does happen a lot more than most think. The problem was, these guys had their p-work tight enough to pass basic scrutiny.
We did a BAH fraud check of every person, and the problem is we are forbidden from asking too many questions. When contacted by the military, property managers cannot reveal information about lessees, etc.
So, if they have reasonable documentation, it is damn tough to catch offenders.
If you haven't figured it out, I'm on the JFK.

 

[kaytr0n]

i believe it. i'd believe anything after my lesbian running mate from cruise told me about her "husband" that lived in guam or japan or who knows where...

 

[VAmookie]

There was at least one case in Diego of a woman who was married to FIVE Marines at the same time, just to collect the death benefits. She got caught because she used the same address and had collected on 3 or 4 death benefits when the SGLI folks noticed all the checks going to the same address and name.

That sh!t pisses me off. Needless to say, if i caught a woman doing that, she would have some splainen to do. As would I, after the police brought me in for questioning about her 'abuse'

 

[mbeaser]

You have to wonder how many of these folks realize that they are putting their retirement in jeopardy. In many states military retirements are frequently divided in a divorce. Also, BAH rules changed a few years ago and it no longer matters how many people are sharing an apartment, they still get full BAH (it used to be that they would only give the portion of BAQ that was equal to their rent portion). So, folks are faking leases for no reason.

 

[Old NFO]

You have to wonder how many of these folks realize that they are putting their retirement in jeopardy. In many states military retirements are frequently divided in a divorce. Also, BAH rules changed a few years ago and it no longer matters how many people are sharing an apartment, they still get full BAH (it used to be that they would only give the portion of BAQ that was equal to their rent portion). So, folks are faking leases for no reason.

Stupid is as stupid does... Oh you can beat the system by... (Fill in the blank):icon_rage

 

[mmx1]

The other side was the beach bunnies at P'cola that would marry SNA's, Helo pilots from Rucker and others but never travel to follow on assignments. They were in it for the $$ and hoping the "hubby" would buy the farm. There was at least one case in Diego of a woman who was married to FIVE Marines at the same time, just to collect the death benefits. She got caught because she used the same address and had collected on 3 or 4 death benefits when the SGLI folks noticed all the checks going to the same address and name.

:icon_rage

Wow, I'm speechless.