Owner of Chesapeake Barber College Pleads Guilty to $4.5 Million GI Bill Fraud
NORFOLK, Va. – William E. Grobes, IV, 45, of Chesapeake, pleaded guilty today to charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
According
to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Grobes owns
the College of Beauty and Barber Culture (CBBC), located in Chesapeake.
CBBC was purportedly a barber and cosmetology school approved by the
Department of Veterans Affairs to provide education and training to
military veterans, including veterans who received tuition assistance
under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Grobes represented to the VA that CBBC
provided full-time schooling to hundreds of veteran students beginning
in October 2011. In reality, the school was a sham. Most veterans
enrolled in CBBC courses received few, if any, hours of instruction from
CBBC employees, and there were no tests, exams, or practical exercises
given. Rather, students were directed to simply sign in and out of the
school each day so that Grobes could report to the VA that they were
enrolled and attending. In exchange, CBBC received Post-9/11 GI Bill
tuition payments for each veteran from the VA. Based on Grobes’
provision of false information to the VA concerning the number of hours
of instruction and the manner and quality of the instruction provided to
veteran students, CBBC received over $4.5 million in Post-9/11 GI Bill
tuition payments between October 2011 and September 2016.
Grobes was charged by criminal information on November 16, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced on March 8, 2017.
The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is
provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the
defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory
Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-
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