Ishwanzya Rivers, 46, has been accused of stealing funds she was managing for U.S. military veterans, including at least $133,000 from one elderly, terminally ill resident of a VA hospital in Cincinnati, according to the Justice Department. (Flickr/Department of Veterans Affairs)
A Cincinnati woman has been arrested on allegations of stealing money that she managed for U.S. military veterans, the Justice Department said.
Ishwanzya Rivers, 46, is accused of stealing a total of $148,000 from four elderly or ill veterans, federal officials said in a statement Wednesday. She used the funds to subsidize shopping, restaurant visits and trips to Montego Bay, London and the Maldives, among other locations, the statement said.
Rivers stole at least $133,000 from one elderly, terminally ill veteran who lived at the VA hospital in Cincinnati, the DOJ said, spending the victim’s money at least 45 times from June 2021 through November 2022.
She stole smaller sums from three other elderly or sick veterans, the Justice Department alleged.
Rivers has been charged with misappropriating funds as a fiduciary and making false statements. Both are federal crimes that can be punished by up to five years in prison.
