A Philly Army vet stole the identities of fellow servicemembers, tried to cancel VA benefits, feds say
Investigators believe Alpha Omega Mayhue targeted the six veterans affected by his harassment campaign due to perceived slights he was still seething over from his time in service.
A Philadelphia Army vet harboring a yearslong grudge stole the identities of fellow servicemembers and used the information to try to cancel their veterans’ benefits, bank accounts and credit cards, federal authorities said.
Investigators believe Alpha Omega Mayhue, who was assigned as a human resources specialist at the Army’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside of Tacoma, Wash., targeted the six veterans affected by his harassment campaign due to perceived slights he was still seething over from his time in service.
He left the Army in 2018, just over a year after he enlisted, but not before allegedly stealing personal identification info that he had access to from his victims’ personnel files.
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Mayhue, 39, was charged in an indictment unsealed Wednesday with counts including conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, cyberstalking, and misuse of a Social Security number — the most serious of which could send him to prison for as long as 15 years.
According to the filing, Mayhue, working with an unidentified accomplice, repeatedly impersonated his victims in phone calls and letters to the Department of Veterans Affairs and other entities providing banking and payroll services to military members between 2020 and 2021 — sometimes multiple times a day.
The duo allegedly sought to cancel accounts or report ID cards stolen in an attempt to frustrate their victims’ ability to access their benefits.
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In one case, prosecutors said, Mayhue also sent graphic images of his genitalia to a fellow servicemember along with harassing messages threatening to break into her house and sexually assault her.
A military spokesperson did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday, and it was not clear whether any of Mayhue’s alleged attempts to cancel his victims’ benefit accounts was successful before they were reported to the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, which launched the investigation into his activities.
As of Thursday, he remained in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Center City awaiting a detention hearing. It was not clear from court dockets whether he had retained a lawyer.