Mountain View Man Charged with Fraud for Falsely Claiming Military Service
A Mountain View man has been indicted for allegedly falsely claiming military service to fraudulently obtain over $300,000 in special pay from his employer, according to federal prosecutors.
Omar Naziry, 40, a former employee of a global security and aerospace company, faces charges of mail fraud and theft of government property, as announced by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California on Friday.
The unidentified company had a policy in place to provide a pay differential to employees who were on military leave, designed to ensure that their income remained stable following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In 2016, Naziry requested the pay differential, asserting that he was being deployed overseas. He allegedly submitted false military orders and a fabricated military leave and earnings statement to support his claims.
Over the following years, Naziry continued to receive differential pay by claiming that his deployment had been extended. However, in 2021, the company informed him that he had exhausted the five-year limit on the differential pay.
In response, the company received a letter purportedly from an army officer threatening negative publicity if Naziry’s pay was terminated. The letter stated, “I highly recommend you overturn this decision you’ve made or at least have a plan in place for how to mitigate the negative effects of the story. I hope you can take timely action to avoid this PR disaster.”
Naziry has been charged with a single count of mail fraud. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Additionally, he is charged in a separate indictment with theft of government property for unlawfully obtaining $35,093 in housing assistance payments. If found guilty of this charge, he could face an additional 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
