If my travel pay was sent to another person's account, will I still get paid?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 17:39:14 -0400

Tldr: my travel pay was sent to a wrong account. Account owner spent it and dfas wasnt able to recall the money. Now I'm waiting for finance yo tell me what is next.

Long version: The end of June I pcs'd to a new base for school (full pcs due to school length - amount is 3200ish). My fellow prior service classmates started to receive their travel pay, but I did not receive mine. One of the other soldiers was in finance before and told me how to check travel eft to make sure my account was correct (I didnt even know these were separated prior to this). Sure enough the account listed was not mine. Usaa was the routing number, which is my current bank. So I called them since it was Friday (July 13th) and dfas was already closed. Usaa assured me they didn't have an account with that nunber and it would be returned to the army. July 16th or 17th I went to the base's travel finance and told them. They just said it hadnt been returned to dfas yet and to wait. Over the next week, I called both usaa and finance and was told the same thing.

The next week I called and usaa this time said they had an account with that number but couldnt tell me anything about it, that I would need a letter of indemnity from dfas to let dfas take the money back. The next day I went to travel finance on post and told them this. She screenshot where it was deposited with my name, despite me telling her that I'm pretty sure I needed a letter/memo. I sent the screenshots to usaa. I found that wasn't acceptable a week and a half ago and called dfas to send a letter of indemnity.

During this time, I figured out what likely happened. I rejoined the army in December 2015 with a wells Fargo account. Late 2016 or early 2017, i opened a usaa and switched to that via my s1 (and I closed that wells Fargo account). The account number they sent my travel pay to is my wells Fargo account number, but they sent it to usaa. I think my s1 updated the routing but not account number for travel.

Last week dfas actually sent the letter of indemnity. Friday they tried to pull the money back from the wrong account but couldn't because of insufficient funds in that account. This was last Friday. I called dfas, travel finance on post, and usaa. I spoke to a senior usaa rep who called the account holder. The rep told me it was another service member and he/she told her that when the money appeared they called dfas and usaa told them they could keep it after a certain number of days (which I don't think could possibly be true). Travel on post says she is trying to find out what to do next or if im just out the money. Dfas wouldnt answer my questions and refused to transfer me to the lead person in charge of this (I did email her but havent received a reply yet). Dfas was borderline rude each time I talked to them as well.

I should eventually be paid right? Ive tried very hard to fix this. I filled out a pay inquiry with my platoon sergeant Friday. I checked iperms but only have an 1199 from 2005 when first originally joined the guard. I think I may try to call my old s1 to see if they have that 1199 somewhere.

Any advice? I really needed to be paid this and just paid off my travel card with my own money, which nakes it tighter for me this month.

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Aug 5 at 2018 5:53 PM

SFC Ralph E Kelley — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 17:53:05 -0400

Of course fianace will pay you AND start the CID after the culprit for the theft (considered bank fraud). Stealing from the goverment in the US Army falls under CID investigations, but if it is through the banking system then they cooporate with the FBI nad the bank's investigators

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2018 6:03 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 18:03:31 -0400

To be honest, you probably will not receive that money. It's on you to verify your account information. You rejoined the Army so you know that you are responsible to verify your account information and how you are supposed to be paid.
You should start looking into an AER grant to at least pay off your government travel card for your travel expenses. If your request to DFAS stalls you may want to try a congressional complaint. But, in the end, DFAS is a systems and laws place. They may find that they are not responsible for paying you twice if you failed to verify your account information.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2018 8:57 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 20:57:56 -0400

Stealing from Uncle Sam is a big no, no. Follow up with legal and they have the resources to go after the person that spent your money. Yes, you should have verified the account number but this happens a lot I am sure and USAA should also act on your behalf once they have verifiable info.

Response by 1SG John V. made Aug 6 at 2018 3:18 PM

1SG John V. — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 15:18:43 -0400

You need to talk to whoever is in charge of the local office. There are too many ways to recover the funds and you shouldn’t have to wait for it to get sorted out.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Aug 6 at 2018 4:30 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 16:30:04 -0400

If DFAS misplaced it, then yes they should be able to remedy it. And DFAS will get the money back from the wrong person- even if they have to dock their pay for 20 yrs, or turn it over to the IRS.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2018 4:41 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 16:41:30 -0400

Thank you for the advice, gentlemen.

Travel finance on post is saying I have to go through usaa. Usaa is saying they cant do anything with insufficient funds.

I emailed a lady higher up at dfas Friday afternoon and she hasn't replied.

I shall keep trying.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2018 4:42 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 16:42:21 -0400

Travel finance on post is telling me they have no way of finding out who's account it is, despite having the account number.