Is it really veteran-owned?

Too many small-business owners are claiming status as veterans or disabled vets, the Army Times reports, so the Veterans Affairs Department is investigating.

The problem is big. More than three-quarters of businesses claiming the status were problematic, the government said, with an initial check suggesting at least 1,400 businesses falsely received more than $500 million in contracts set aside for vets.

The main problem is contracts subbed out to non-veterans. But other issues were uncovered, like a “disabled” vet who was discharged from the Marines after being injured in a football game. He served for a mere five weeks.

New verification systems might be helping, but the department won’t know more until it digs deeper.

How do you feel about set-aside policies like veteran-owned companies, or minority- and women-owned companies? Are fraud or even simply misunderstandings as rampant as the Veteran Affairs probe suggests?