LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The man who has been the face of the Veteran's Club since he founded the organization in 2019, pleaded not guilty to fraud charges on Monday.
Jeremy Harrell is the founder and CEO of Veteran's Club, a nonprofit organization formed in 2019 that's devoted to providing assistance to U.S. military veterans. He is now accused of fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits from Veterans Affairs. Harrell was indicted last week for allegedly receiving more than $100,000 in benefits from Veterans Affairs.
NOT GUILY PLEA | Veteran’s Club Founder and CEO Jeremy Harrell pleaded not guilty today in his first appearance in federal court. He’s accused of taking over $100K in VA unemployment benefits he was ineligible for. @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/jIa6EdLYT1
— Grace Hayba (@GraceHayba) November 1, 2023
During Wednesday's court appearance, Harrell was told he cannot possess any firearms or make any financial transactions over $10,000 without first notifying his probation officer. He was also ordered not to leave the state.
Harrell has not commented on the case, but on Wednesday his attorney, Patrick Renn did tell us that he believes some of the restrictions ordered by the court are unfair.
"Number one, we deny that there are any victims in this case," Renn said. "As to potential witnesses, it could be just about anybody. So it really is unfair to say that he can't have contact with potential witnesses who are unnamed at this point, but obviously we're going to abide by the conditions that were set by the court."
As previously reported by WDRB, in order to be eligible for Individual Unemployability, a veteran must be unable to maintain substantial gainful employment because of service-connected disabilities. Harrell served in the U.S. Army from 2003-04, and later the U.S. Army Reserve.
He began receiving benefits in 2011, and agreed to inform Veterans Affairs if he returned to work, according to the indictment. Harrell founded the Veteran's Club in 2019 to help veterans with housing assistance, vocational training, healing and more.
The indictment claims Harrell took affirmative steps to conceal his true work activity that weren't consistent with his true work activities and public appearances. It claims he was capable of maintaining substantial gainful employment, as shown by his work with Veteran's Club.
"These allegations against him aren't criminal in nature so there isn't any reason whatsoever for him to step down at this point and the court did not ask him to do so nor did the Assistant U.S. attorney but whether he decides to do that so he can fully devote his time to preparing his defense that'll be up to him and that'll be decided at another date," Renn said.
Harrell served as a volunteer CEO who didn't receive a salary or compensation for his work. The indictment states Harrell would work an excess of 40 hours a week, but when asked how frequently he participated in veterans' activities, he responded "it is not a regular thing, just occasionally."
If convicted, Harrell faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. His next court appearance was scheduled for Jan 2.
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