CONYERS, Ga. — A 70-year-old Georgia Army veteran says his VA benefits were cut off.
The Department of Veterans Affairs told Roosevelt Smith in a letter that they have evidence the 100% disabled veteran was working without reporting the income.
“It’s hard to hold back tears, man, it’s hard to hold back tears,” Smith told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray. “Somebody is saying I’m working; I don’t have a job.”
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.
“I’ve been in this house since 2018. You can’t pay your mortgage; you can’t be here. I have nowhere to go,” he said.
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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. 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.
After Channel 2 Action News reached out to the VA, Smith said agency staff called him to say they are now investigating.
“I had nobody else to turn to but you. I had nowhere to turn,” Smith told Gray.
The letter Smith received said he was sent an earlier warning letter last fall. He said he never received it.
“What I’m surprised about is why didn’t somebody from an admin office call me before you cut my money,” Smith said.
Channel 2 Action News reached out to the Department of Veterans Affairs. A spokesperson said they are researching the case.
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