CHANDLER, Ariz. — A Valley-based flight training company has agreed to pay $7 million to resolve complaints it had allegedly misled the Department of Veteran Affairs regarding its enrollment numbers.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that Universal Helicopters Inc. and Dodge City Community College in Kansas had agreed to pay a settlement to resolve a whistleblower complaint.
DCCC contracts with facilities in the Valley to teach its flight courses. One of the college's students and instructors notably died last October after their helicopter crashed midair at Chandler Municipal Airport.
DOJ claims between 2013 and 2018, the college and Universal Helicopters made false statements about enrollment figures in order to obtain VA funding.
As part of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the VA paid tuition costs to schools on the behalf of eligible military veterans. To qualify, a school must certify that no more than 85 percent of its students for any particular course are receiving VA benefits.
According to the DOJ, that threshold is set to help ensure the VA is paying fair market value tuition rates.
A complaint filed under the nation's whistleblower laws accused Universal Helicopters and the community college of violating the VA rules since certain expensive classes were enrolled almost exclusively by veterans.
The whistleblower complaint was filed by a veteran and former student in the college's helicopter flight instructor program.
“The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides significant educational opportunities to our nation’s veterans,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the DOJ Civil Division. “The department will continue to help safeguard the integrity of VA programs intended for the advancement and benefit of veterans.”
Universal Helicopters will pay $7 million and the community college will pay $500,000 to settle the complaint. The whistleblower is eligible to receive up to $1.125 million of the settlement.
According to the college's website, DCCC currently contracts with Quantum Helicopters in Chandler after leaving Universal Helicopters in Scottsdale a few years ago.
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