Criminal Investigative Updates

Mikhail Robin Wicker of Clay County, Minnesota, was convicted of wire fraud, mail fraud, using a false military discharge certificate, and fraudulent use of military medals. Wicker spent years posing as a decorated US Marine. He falsely claimed to have been deployed to Iraq and to be a recipient of the Purple Heart Medal and the Prisoner of War Medal. For years, he relied on these claims to obtain more than $140,000 worth of benefits from VA. Wicker never served in any branch of the armed services and supported his fraud scheme using forged documents, including a counterfeit DD-214 and fake medal certificates. The case was investigated by the VA OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Social Security Administration OIG with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Dilworth Police Department.

Timothy Lane Crowder, of Huntington, West Virginia, was sentenced to five months in prison and three years of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $24,000 in restitution for unlawful receipt of gratuities. Between September 2020 and July 2023, Crowder was a veterans service representative employed by VA when he assisted thirteen veterans with preparing their claims for retroactive disability benefits. Crowder admitted that he received gratuities of approximately ten to twenty percent of their awarded benefits from the veterans once their claims were approved. This case was investigated by the VA OIG.

Dr. Claribel Tan, and her husband, Daniel Tan, pleaded guilty to executing a $12.5 million healthcare fraud scheme and evading more than $4 million in taxes on the profits of a decades-long scheme. The Tans operated a rheumatology medical clinic in Anchorage and specialized in the treatment of autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases. Beginning in 2009, Dr. Tan routinely and surreptitiously underdosed patients, injected them with free samples or a different medication than prescribed, injected them with expired medication, and/or injected them with medications purchased by other patients. The Tans then knowingly billed insurance plans as if Dr. Tan had provided each patient a full and proper injection. This case was investigated by the VA OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, IRS, FBI, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration, Food and Drug Administration, and State of Alaska Division of Insurance Investigation Unit.

Michael Duane Dyson of Tallahassee, Florida was indicted for theft of government funds. This is one of 46 indictments issued in Central Florida during the government shutdown.

Daniel Rikkels of Chula Vista, California, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he helped veterans fraudulently obtain disability benefits while he was a VA employee responsible for reviewing and approving disability claims. Between 2020 and June of 2025, Rikkels knowingly and intentionally instructed veterans to provide false, exaggerated, and misleading claims of service-related injuries to support their disability claims. Rikkels also instructed veterans to alter documents submitted during the claims process. Through these false claims, veterans fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in VA disability payments and backpay, and Rikkels received millions of dollars in payments from the veterans in return for his work on their behalf. The VA OIG and the FBI investigated this case.