UPDATE: ABC Action News investigation prompts federal probe

TAMPA, Fla. - A federal probe is underway after an ABC Action News investigation uncovered a local company charging families of veterans for services that should be free.

When Dunedin resident Pat Snair was desperately seeking help to get her ailing father the Veterans Benefits he was entitled to help defray the cost of assisted living, she turned to Bob Bober and his company Assisted Living Benefits Inc. of Belleair Bluffs.

"I was running into stumbling blocks and they said they would file the paperwork and it wouldn't be a problem and he would get these benefits in a couple of months," Snair said.

Mr. Snair never got his benefits but his daughter did get a bill. $2,000, which the VA told us is illegal in no uncertain terms.

"Is against federal law," said Collette Burgess of the Veterans Administration.

Burgess told us it's illegal to charge a veteran or their family a fee for help in filing for benefits, unless it's to appeal a previous decision by the VA denying a claim. And it’s also illegal to assist veterans without being accredited by the VA.

But that didn't stop Bober, who told us that he wasn't accredited.

"I'm not accredited that's correct. But you have to be to do this kind of work,” Bober said.

There are other local companies offering to help veterans get their benefits. And in reviewing the VA's website many of them are also unaccredited. But Don Stout of the Pinellas County's Office of Veterans Affairs says Bober is the only one he's aware of demanding money up front. He said his office has received 12-15 complaints about Bober over the last three years.

"I think they're implying they can get it done faster, better and somehow get around provisions in the law which may make it difficult for a veterans claim to be resolved,” said Stout.

“Can they?” we asked. “No, they can't do anything we can't do and frequently it's far less than we can do because they are not authorized by the VA to assist," Stout said.

We wanted to get Bober's response to that but he has stopped returning our calls.

"In my opinion they should be put out of business," said Congressman Gus Bilirakis.

Bilirakis sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee. We asked him why there are so many unaccredited companies working with the VA.

"Well we need to enforce the law. And if we need stronger penalties, we should do that with legislation. In fact I'm going to talk to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs about this particular issue. Thank you for brining it to my attention,” Bilirakis said.

The Inspector General's office at the VA in Washington said it's now reviewing what we uncovered and is in the process of gathering documents in its investigation.