BOP Correctional Officer Pleaded Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Grand Theft of Personal Property and Making a False and Fraudulent Claim

On September 21, 2021, an employee of the Alliance School of Trucking (AST) in Los Angeles County, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft of personal property and making a false and fraudulent claim and agreed to perform 100 hours of community service.  Ivanova Jimenez was charged in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.  According to court records, Jimenez pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the Criminal Complaint, which states that from in or about September 2011 through in or about April 2015, Jimenez conspired with others to defraud the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of property.  The Criminal Complaint states that Jimenez, along with others at AST, was involved in a scheme to recruit eligible veterans to defraud the VA of Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits by telling veterans that they could collect benefits from the VA by enrolling in their truck driving school but not actually attending educational programs.  According to the Criminal Complaint, Jimenez agreed with two other defendants that one of the other defendants should remove incriminating files from the office space occupied by AST and destroy them by fire.   The investigation is being conducted by the OIG’s Los Angeles Field Office, the VA OIG, and the FBI.