A Texas man was indicted for allegedly claiming he was a 10-year Military veteran as a way to defraud traders out of $1.7 million, the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) mentioned Tuesday.

Derek Robert Hamm, 38, of Tyler, had a 33-count felony indictment returned towards him for quite a few fees, together with fraud, cash laundering, and possessing a firearm as a felon. He was additionally charged with violating the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it unlawful to "fraudulently put on medals, embellish rank, or make false claims of navy service" for private profit.

If convicted, Hamm might spend as much as 20 years behind bars.

The Navy Occasionsdid be aware that Hamm enlisted within the Indiana Nationwide Guard in 2001, and was deployed to Iraq as a battalion member. Nevertheless, Hamm was not the distinguished battle hero that he claimed to be, in line with the DOJ.

Hamm was, in actuality, an oil businessman who reportedly noticed a number of corporations shut down for tax causes, in line with paperwork obtained by the Occasions. Throughout his time within the oil enterprise, Hamm allegedly pretended to be a battle hero of nice valor as a way to defraud potential traders, the DOJ acknowledged.

Hamm lied to quite a lot of oil executives and likewise claimed to be the nephew of billionaire Oklahoma oil baron Harold Hamm as a way to construct his credibility inside the business. The 2 are, in actuality, not associated.

U.S. Army
A Texas man was indicted Tuesday for allegedly trying to go off as an Military battle hero, regardless of solely ever serving within the Nationwide Guard. He additionally acknowledged that he was the recipient of quite a lot of medals which, in actuality, he by no means obtained. Right here, a U.S. Military uniform is seen throughout a ceremony in 2018. Noam Galai/Getty

His lofty claims allowed him to safe connections within the business, which helped him attain traders and rack up $1.7 million value of funding for his oil corporations.

Upon receiving these funds from traders in his oil corporations, Hamm allegedly wouldn't put the cash again into his firm. Relatively, he would use the funds to spend money on "lavish private presents, together with practically $500,000 on jewellery and autos for himself and his household," the DOJ mentioned.

As a part of his ruse, Hamm regularly claimed that he was a graduate of West Level and served with the Military Particular Forces in Center Jap international locations for a decade. He moreover claimed to be a "grasp Airborne soldier with 258 fight jumps," in line with courtroom paperwork.

Because of his "actions," Hamm advised traders that he had been given quite a lot of awards. This contains the Purple Coronary heart, awarded to these injured within the line of obligation, in addition to the Distinguished Service Cross—the second-highest ornament within the U.S. navy, behind solely the Medal of Honor.

Nevertheless, in actuality, Hamm had reportedly solely acquired "non-valor"-related awards from his time within the Indiana Nationwide Guard.

This stint was not Hamm's first stint as a nationwide guardsman, although. He had reportedly been discharged from the Oklahoma Nationwide Guard in 2007.

Hamm's cost of possessing a firearm as a felon was attributable to a previous arrest in 2020 for theft of property. Because of this, he was prohibited from proudly owning a gun, but legislation enforcement reportedly discovered one in his possession.

The DOJ famous that Hamm additionally had a previous conviction from 2005 for a home violence cost towards a member of the family.

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Military for remark.