Joe Phillips: Attorney Charged With Ripping Vets Off For $2 Million

Veterans not exactly honored, feds say

​The feds indicted a Houston attorney and his wife today for ripping off veterans. And not just any veterans, veterans who had been declared incompetent, thereby putting their financial lives into the attorney's hands.

Joe Phillips, 71, and his wife Dorothy, 70, were charged in a 26-count indictment of conspiracy, tax fraud and other charges today. Prosecutors say the pair ripped off vets to the tune of $2 million from January 2003 until December 2008.

Phillips, who used to work for the Veterans Administration, got himself appointed by probate judges to take care of the finances of incompetent vets, the feds say.
He was responsible for taking care of the vets' living expenses, rent and travel, but instead, prosecutors say, he stole the money.

The Phillips are out on bond, but their travel is restricted to the Southern District of Texas.