ATLANTA — Just days after reaching out to Channel 2 Action News for help, a Georgia veteran says the VA is restoring his disability benefits.
“I was so happy. I was just driving home and actually screaming, thank you Jesus,” Roosevelt Smith told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray.
The Department of Veterans Affairs told Roosevelt Smith in a letter last week that they have evidence the 100% disabled veteran was working without reporting the income.
Smith said it was the day before his monthly VA benefit check normally is deposited that he got the letter saying his Department of Veterans Affairs benefits are being cut back.
Smith has been a 100% disabled veteran since 2012.
The VA told him in the letter that the Social Security Administration had evidence of his employment, so Smith called SSA.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Victim’s mother relieved convicted murderer wrongly released from Clayton jail back in custody
- Victims, suspect identified in Walmart employee shootings that left 2 dead, 1 injured
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene scooped up stocks as the market crumbled last week
They told him their data shows he was working at a diner in southwest Atlanta, 33 miles from his Conyers home.
Smith, who relies on a cane or walker, said he has never even been to that diner. But SSA records show he was paid more than $57,000 in 2023 by the diner.
“It was very high level of stress. I thought that was no way right, that anybody at the diner makes that amount,” Smith said.
Victoria Franklin reached out to Channel 2 Action News after seeing Smith’s story.
“The exact same thing that happened to me,” Franklin said.
Also, as a disabled veteran, she also got a similar letter from the VA in November.
When she looked at her Social Security account, it said she made more than $56,000 in 2023 and more than $100,000 in 2024. But she has not worked since 2024.
“It said I didn’t report my earnings. I’m like, I didn’t generate any earnings,” Franklin said.
After our story aired and after Channel 2 Action News reached out to the VA, they reached back to Smith.
The VA informed him Thursday that they will fix the mistake tied to what appears to be identity theft and restart his benefits.
“They really showed compassion and helped me through all this ordeal I went through, and they realized that it was a mistake,” Smith said.
©2025 Cox Media Group
