Westland Woman Sentenced For Defrauding $470K From VA And Michigan Treasury

 

A Westland woman was sentenced Wednesday in defrauding nearly half-million dollars from the federal government and state of Michigan in a scheme involving posing as heirs of dead veterans, the state Attorney General's Office said.

Sophia Quill, 63, was sentenced to 78 months to 20 years in conducting a criminal enterprise and for eight counts of false pretenses involving the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Michigan Treasury Department, Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a news release. Quill received an additional eight prison sentences for the false pretenses convictions, to be served concurrently, each ranging from 19 months to 15 years. 

She also will pay $470,000 in restitution to the departments, Nessel said.

Quill and Melissa Flores were accused of defrauding the Veterans Affairs and Treasury departments out of more than $430,000 and $40,000, respectively, allegedly by creating fake documents to make them appear as the heirs of several U.S. veterans entitled to unclaimed property from the Treasury Department between 2013-19, prosecutors said.

Steven Decker, Quill’s son, received proceeds from the scheme and used some of the money to conceal property used to conduct the fraud, the Attorney General's Office said.

Flores and Decker have been sentenced and ordered to pay $110,000 and $28,506 in restitution, respectively, Nessel said.

"The codefendants in this case stole hundreds of thousands of dollars intended to fund hard-earned benefits for service members and their rightful heirs," Nessel said during Quill’s conviction. "My department worked diligently to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs will receive restitution in the resolution of this case and that Quill, the mastermind, receive a significant sentence."