Former Government Contract Employee Sentenced to Probation for Misusing VA Credit Card

PITTSBURGH – An Allegheny County resident has been sentenced in federal court to a period of three years of probation on his conviction of theft of government property, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Brian R. Kaminski, 31, of Allison Park, PA.

According to information presented to the court, Kaminski was a Contract Specialist employed by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs who was given a Government Purchase Card (a credit card) for use in his duties for those occasions when he needed to make incidental purchases.  During the period September through November 2012, Kaminski made a series of 29 unauthorized purchases (in person and online) at four different merchants totaling just over $28,000. Kaminski then took steps to hide what he had done relative to the internal accounting procedures of the VA.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Department of Veteran Affairs - Veterans Affairs Police and the Office of Inspector General for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Kaminski.