Bilecki Explains $15,000 Housing Allowance Overpayment; Warrant Officer’s GOMOR Filed Locally

Bilecki Explains $15,000 Housing Allowance Overpayment; Warrant Officer’s GOMOR Filed Locally

April 2024

Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea (Eighth Army)

Army Warrant Officer 1 – W-1

Allegations: Alleged BAH fraud and false official statement; UCMJ Article 107 False Official Statement

Facts

An Army Warrant Officer 1 with a Special Operations career record was facing an Eighth Army Commanding General's GOMOR for a $15,000 BAH overpayment that he had identified, corrected, and repaid in full before the GOMOR was even drafted. Permanent filing could affect promotion and continued service and expose him to officer elimination proceedings.

The CID investigation opened in January 2023 when agents visited family members at multiple addresses on the East Coast.

Our client retained Bilecki the next day. The defense Notice of Representation went to CID within 24 hours of the family member visits.

Our client had identified the BAH overpayment on his own.

We moved on the corrective record. Our client amended his orders to reflect his spouse's correct address. He requested a DFAS audit. He repaid the entire overpayment.

That should have closed the matter. It did not.

In late March 2024 the Eighth Army CG signed a GOMOR. The CG's language was direct: the conduct was unacceptable, displayed dishonesty and a lack of integrity, and the CG seriously questioned our client's potential to continue to serve. The CG stated he was considering permanent AMHRR filing under AR 600-37 paragraph 3-5b. For a Warrant Officer 1, permanent AMHRR filing of a fraud-framed GOMOR can threaten selection and continued service.

We filed the GOMOR Rebuttal in early April 2024.

Tim Bilecki’s rebuttal put the amended orders, the DFAS audit request and the full repayment before the general. Those documents showed that our client had identified and corrected the overpayment on his own initiative before disciplinary action. Bilecki paired that chronology with his record as a Special Operations Communications NCOIC, including multiple combat deployments and a Joint Special Operations Command assignment, in asking for local filing.

The GOMOR was filed locally only, not in the AMHRR.

Result: GOMOR filed locally only, not in the AMHRR; no court-martial; no NJP; no administrative separation; no Board of Inquiry.

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FAQ

Q: What did Bilecki put before the general to support local filing?
The rebuttal laid out the order in which our client had acted: he identified the overpayment, corrected his orders, requested a DFAS audit and repaid the money before the reprimand was drafted. Repayment alone does not resolve an allegation of fraud. The chronology mattered because it supported our argument that this was an error our client had taken the initiative to correct. Bilecki also gave the general the service record of the warrant officer whose career was at stake.

Q: What was the filing decision?
The general filed the GOMOR locally, keeping it out of our client's permanent Army personnel record. Our client received no court-martial, NJP, administrative separation or Board of Inquiry.