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Reservist allegedly stole $9,000 in referral bonuses
A member of the U.S. Army Reserves who is also a teacher was indicted in federal court for allegedly stealing referral bonuses from the U.S. Army Reserves totaling $9,000 by fraudulently claiming that he recruited five potential soldiers.
The indictment charged Jordan M. Jucutan with theft of government property, five counts of aggravated identity theft, and nine counts of wire fraud.
A federal grand jury indicted Jucutan on Friday. Assistant U.S. attorney Russell Lorfing filed the indictment in the U.S. District Court for the NMI that same day.
According to the indictment, Jucutan took advantage of the Army Reserve Recruiting Assistance Program, which is designed to offer cash incentives to Army Reserve soldiers—known as recruiter assistants—to recruit other individuals to serve in the U.S. Army Reserves.
If a potential soldier, known as a “nominee,” signed an enlistment contract, the recruiting assistant who recruited that nominee would receive a $1,000 payment. The Army reservist would get an additional $1,000 if his or her nominee attends basic training.
From August 2007 until November 2009, Jucutan allegedly stole $9,000 in referral bonus payments for five potential Army Reserve soldiers, using their names and Social Security numbers. Jucutan allegedly obtained personal information from these potential soldiers without their knowledge or consent when they presented to take the ASVAB test in the CNMI.
According to the indictment, Jucutan falsely claimed that he was responsible for referring and recruiting these five potential soldiers to join the Army Reserves. This allowed him to obtain fraudulent recruiting referral bonuses totaling $9,000.
