Kevin Rumph, Jr., has been sentenced to prison for stealing medical supplies from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
“It is disappointing when someone entrusted to help care for our veterans instead steals from them,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “As a veteran, Rumph should have been a compassionate servant, not a thief.”
“This defendant was held accountable for his role in a long-term fraud scheme in which he used his position at VA to selfishly enrich himself,” said Special Agent in Charge David Spilker of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Southeast Field Office. “The VA OIG will remain vigilant alongside our law enforcement partners ensuring that VA employees who would steal funds intended for the care of our nation’s veterans are investigated and prosecuted.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Kevin Rumph, Jr., a U.S. Air Force veteran, was employed as a Purchasing Agent by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and had worked there since 2012. He worked in the VA’s Prosthetic Department at its Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) located in Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia.
Rumph’s job duties included receiving prosthetic request forms and prescriptions from physicians, therapists, patients, and patient representatives, and reviewing those forms for proper documentation and justification of the items, services, and durable medical equipment being requested. Rumph prepared purchase orders for a wide variety of prosthetic and sensory aids devices, medical supplies, and durable medical equipment and coordinated the delivery of medical equipment and supplies through contracted providers utilizing his VA-issued purchase card.
In addition to his legitimate purchases for veterans’ health care needs, Rumph used his government-issued purchase card to make unauthorized purchases of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) supplies from a supplier in Alabama. He then stole and sold the CPAP supplies to a vendor located in Ohio. CPAP supplies are medical products used to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
Between 2013 to 2021, Rumph made hundreds of unauthorized CPAP supply purchases costing the VA in excess of $1.9 million.
Rumph, 41, of Fairburn, Georgia, was sentenced to two years, three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,041,733.62. Rumph was convicted on these charges on August 16, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Huber, Deputy Chief of the Complex Frauds Section, prosecuted the case.
