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DOJ: DHS employee charged after falsely claiming VA disability and obtaining a $478,000 VA-backed mortgage

By
FOX Local
Crime and Public Safety
Published July 31, 2026 1:24 PM CDT
Published July 31, 2026 1:24 PM CDT
DOJ.jpg article

The U.S. Department of Justice seal. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Brief

    • The Department of Justice (DOJ) says a veteran who works for the Department of Homeland Security has been charged for submitting false statements in a mortgage application for a VA-backed mortgage.
    • The DOJ says Schleider Aristhyl, 30, of Warwick, Rhode Island claimed he had a VA disability rating of 100% and was receiving monthly disability benefits of over $3,000 per month.
    • Investigators at the time of his application he was not receiving any monthly disability benefits from the VA.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) says a military veteran who works for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been arrested and charged for claiming a 100% disability rating to obtain a VA-backed mortgage, but he had no VA disability rating at the time of his application.

Timeline:

The DOJ says in October 2024, Schleider Aristhyl, 30, of Warwick, Rhode Island, applied for a VA-backed mortgage in the amount of $478,000 from a private lender and claimed he had a VA disability rating of 100% and was receiving monthly disability benefits of over $3,000 per month.

Investigators allege the document Aristhyl submitted claiming the 100% disability rating was falsified and he had no VA disability rating at the time of his application and was not receiving any monthly disability benefits. 

Veterans who apply for a VA-backed mortgage are typically required to pay a funding fee to the VA, but veterans with a disability rating are exempt from paying the fee. The DOJ says Aristhyl was not exempt from paying the funding fee, which was over $10,000.  

Dig deeper:

The DOJ says the lender relied on documents submitted and issued a mortgage loan in the amount of $478,000 to Aristhyl on Oct. 25, 2024 and the VA issued a loan guarantee backing a portion of the mortgage on Jan. 21, 2025. 

Aristhyl was charged with wire fraud and making a false statement on a mortgage application. Following his initial court appearance in federal court in Boston on July 21, he was released on conditions.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of false statement in a mortgage application provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

The Source: This article includes information from the Department of Justice.  This story was reported from Orlando.


 

Crime and Public Safety