Texas Attorney & Wife Accused of Stealing from Mentally Incompetent Vets

Houston attorney Joe Phillips and his wife, Dorothy, who managed her husband’s law office, appeared in federal court in Texas yesterday, accused of stealing more than $2 million from veterans.

Phillips, a former employee of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Houston, served as attorney for a number of mentally incompetent vets. In that capacity, Phillips opened and maintained bank accounts to receive benefits and pay expenses for the veteran clients. Investigators claim that the Phillips siphoned money from the veterans, transferring it into joint bank accounts for their personal use, for six years beginning in January 2003.

The couple, ages 71 and 70, respectively, are charged with conspiracy, misappropriation by a fiduciary, making materially false statements to a federal agency, and tax fraud.

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