{"id":127115,"date":"2022-06-24T14:07:09","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T18:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=127115"},"modified":"2022-06-24T14:07:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T18:07:09","slug":"man-engages-in-stolen-valor-to-defraud-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=127115","title":{"rendered":"Man engages in stolen valor to defraud investors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Derek Robert Hamm pleads guilty to stolen valor related defrauding investors (Tyler\/KETK)<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A man pleads guilty to federal charges for engaging in stolen valor to defraud investors. He portrayed himself as serving as Special Forces (Army) with tours in Iraq and in Afghanistan. He threw in claims of having earned the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, etc. to add to his phony persona.<\/p>\n

From CBS News:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Derek Robert Hamm, 38, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, violating the Stolen Valor Act, using a fraudulent military discharge certificate, and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 makes it illegal to fraudulently wear medals, embellish rank, or falsely claim military service to obtain material benefits.<\/p>\n

As part of his plea deal, Hamm agreed to pay at least $2.3 million in restitution to his victims and forfeit jewelry, vehicles, and $1.675 million in cash obtained through the scheme.<\/p>\n

According to court papers, Hamm falsely presented himself as a wealthy and successful war hero in order to scam investors. He claimed to be a former member of the Army Special Forces and to have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other countries. He also falsely claimed to have been awarded several medals, including a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Silver Star, and Distinguished Service Cross for his service.<\/p>\n

Hamm also lied that he was related to Oklahoma oil billionaire Harold Hamm and had access to vast financial resources and oil industry expertise. Hamm used his garish persona to create a network of friends who introduced him to potential investors who believed his claims and invested in what they thought were legitimate ventures led by a trustworthy and charismatic entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Hamm was far from trustworthy and his ventures were far from legitimate. Within hours of taking their funds, Hamm spent the investors’ money on himself and his family. He bought expensive jewelry, cars, and took extravagant vacations on private jets all while telling investors that he had put their funds in successful oil industry ventures.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CBS<\/a> News, KETK<\/a> Fox 51, and the Department of Justice<\/a>, Eastern District of Texas, has more details on this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A man pleads guilty to federal charges for engaging in stolen valor to defraud investors. He … Man engages in stolen valor to defraud investors<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":661,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[408],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stolen-valor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/661"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}