KC-area business owner gets prison for $13.7 million ‘rent-a-vet’ fraud scheme

A Kansas City-area construction company owner was sentenced to prison Thursday for illegally obtaining about $14 million in government contracts.

A federal judge in Kansas City sentenced Jeffrey K. Wilson to one year and six months in prison. Wilson will also forfeit $2.1 million.

Wilson, 53, owned the Patriot Company Inc., fraudulently obtained government contracts that were supposed to be set aside for businesses owned and operated by military veterans.

Wilson is not a veteran, but he partnered with a man who was a service-disabled veteran who falsely claimed to be involved in the company’s day-to-day operations.

As a result, their company was awarded 20 government contracts worth more than $13.7 million that it was not entitled to receive.

Legitimate veteran-owned or veteran-run businesses lost out on obtaining those contracts as a result, according to federal prosecutors.

Wilson pleaded guilty in January to a charge of government program fraud.

His co-defendant, Paul Salavitch, pleaded guilty to a charge of making a false writing and is awaiting sentencing.

This story was originally published August 23, 2018 at 2:31 PM.