SAN ANTONIO – A judge has ordered the owner of Universal K-9, Inc., to forfeit more than $1 million in assets linked to his scheme to defraud the federal government, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
The scheme was linked to GI Bill benefits intended to train service canines and their handlers, authorities said.
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Bradley Lane Croft, 48, is the owner of the business. It was his dog training and handling school in San Antonio that received proceeds from the government fraud scheme, officials said.
And now, Croft has been ordered to forfeit the following:
- His business property in the 15000 block of Tradesman.
- $138,415.64 seized from his bank account.
- $4,300 seized on site at Universal K-9.
- A 2017 American Eagle 45T motorhome valued at more than $450,000.
- A 2018 Ford F-150 King Ranch Lariat.
- A 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie.
- A 2016 Yamaha Superjet (personal watercraft).
- A 2008 Yamaha Waverunner.
- A 2012 Rocket International Trailer.
The federal judge also granted the government’s motion for a money judgment in the amount of $1.3 million.
On Nov. 6, Croft was convicted of eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of money laundering and two counts of making a false tax return.
Starting in 2013, Croft provided false information in applications to the Texas Veterans Commission, including instructors’ names, certifications and training documents indicating that certain people would be instructors at the school, to receive GI Bill educational benefit payments, according to testimony provided at trial and cited by the Department of Justice.
Students of dog training school owner ‘disgusted’ by charges of fraud, money laundering against him
Croft and others solicited veterans as students, saying they could use their GI Bill benefits to pay for a dog handler’s course that cost from $6,500 to $12,000, authorities said.
Since 2016, Universal K-9 filed about 185 claims relating to the education of roughly 132 veterans and totaling more than $1.2 million.
Testimony also revealed that Croft submitted fraudulent income tax returns.
Croft remains in federal custody. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud, up to 20 years in federal prison for money laundering and up to two years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft.
He’s set to be sentenced Feb. 24.