Opinion ID: 217934
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The OIG Investigation

Text: In January 2004, Roberts complained by telephone to the VA Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) that the 2 Around this time, Roberts also claimed service connection for other medical conditions secondary to his service-connected PTSD as well as for dysthymia and depression separate from PTSD. The RO denied these claims. Those decisions, and the Veterans Court’s decision to remand Roberts’s separate claim for dysthymia and depression, are not at issue on appeal. See infra, n.3. 7 ROBERTS v. DVA VA had mishandled his claim. Thereafter, in July 2004, the OIG investigated Roberts’s claim and issued a lengthy report, which found that Roberts’s statements about his presence at and involvement in the accident that caused Gary Holland’s death were not supported by the record. Specifically, the OIG found that the Navy Judge Advocate General (“JAG”) Corp report of the 1969 accident did not list Roberts’s name anywhere, and that Roberts was not mentioned in any of the nineteen witness statements about the accident. Several of the witnesses the OIG interviewed stated that Roberts worked in a different shop and was not present at the accident. Holland’s roommate reported that neither he nor Holland were friendly with Roberts. The OIG also interviewed Roberts in connection with its investigation, and reported that Roberts maintained his version of the events and “began to yell and curse” when confronted with evidence that contradicted his statements. JA 2554. The OIG provided the investigation report to the RO, the VA Secretary’s office, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.