ARTIST WHO ACKNOWLEDGED STEALING
MILLIONS FROM MILITARY FAMILIES
WHEN THEY WERE AT THEIR ABSOLUTE
LOWEST.
>> YOU MUST HAVE BEEN SO PROUD
TO SEE HIM IN THAT UNIFORM?
>> OH, MY GOD, YEAH.
>> Reporter: SHARON HARTZ WAS
NOT ONLY DEEP IN MOURNING OVER
THE DEATH OF HER 27-YEAR-OLD
SON, SERGEANT THOMAS ANASTASIO
WHILE SERVING IN THE MILITARY,
SHE WAS ALSO TOTALLY OVERWHELMED
WITH ALL OF THE ARRANGEMENTS
THAT COME WITH THE DEATH OF A
LOVED ONE.
THAT’S WHEN THE ARMY TOLD HER
THAT SHE HAD NOT ONLY RECEIVE
$500,000 IN DEATH BENEFITS, BUT
THAT SHE WOULD BE SET UP WITH AN
ARMY FINANCIAL COUNSELOR TO HELP
HER WITH IT.
>> THEY INSISTED THAT WE BE
EDUCATED ON THE FINANCES, SO
THEY WERE PROPERLY HANDLED.
>> Reporter: SHE DROVE TO FT.
DICTION,
DIX, WHERE SHE FIST SAT DOWN
WITH KAZ CARAFY, WHO HELD A
CIVILIAN JOB ABOUT OFFERING
ADVICE TO ARMY FAMILIES.
>> WHAT WAS HE LIKE WHEN YOU
FIRST MET HIM?
>> VERY CHARISMATIC.
>> THAT WAS A FACADE.
HE WAS A CON MAN.
>> I’VE LOST A LITTLE OVER
$200,000.
NOW I CAN’T AFFORD TO RETIRE.
I FEEL TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF.
I’M EMBARRASSED.
>> Reporter: PROSECUTORS SAY
CARAFY WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE
GIVING FAMILIES GENERIC
GUIDANCE.
INSTEAD, HE HELD A SECOND JOB AS
AN INVESTMENT MANAGER IN
VIOLATION OF ARMY RULES.
HE CONVINCED HARTZ AND OTHER
GOLD STAR FAMILIES TO HAND HIM
THEIR MONEY, AND RACKED UP HUGE
COMMISSIONS, EVEN AS HE MADE
UNWISE INVESTMENTS THAT
PLUMMETED IN VALUE.
HE’S NOW PLEADED GUILTY TO
BILKING DOZENS OF GOLD STAR
FAMILIES OUT OF MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS.
NATASHA BAA VARD SIGNED HER
MONEY OVER TO CARAFY AFTER SHE
LOST HER HUSBAND, AN IRAQ WAR
COMBAT WAR VETERAN, TO SUICIDE.
>> I SAW IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF
TIME, I LOST A LOT OF MONEY.
I HAD LOST LIKE $260,000
OVERALL.
>> Reporter: PUBLIC RECORDS SHOW
CARAFY BOUGHT THIS $1.2.1 MILLIO
HOUSE IN 2022.
IT’S NOW IN FORECLOSURE AND HE’S
FACING TEN YEARS IN PRISON, BUT
MANY VICTIMS SAY OTHERS HAVE
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER.
>> I DO BELIEVE THAT THERE IS
BLOOD ON THE HANDS OF THE FARMER
HERE.
>> Reporter: ATTORNEY NATALIE
KAWAM SPECIALIZES IN SUING THE
MILITARY.
SHE’S REPRESENTING HARTZ,
BEVARD, AND OTHER VICTIMS,
CONTEMPLATING AN ARMY TO HOLD
THE ARMY ACCOUNTABLE.
>> THEY WERE AT THEIR LOWEST,
AND HERE’S THE ONLY PEOPLE THEY
BELIEVE THAT WAS GOING TO TAKE
CARE OF THEM, THE ARMY, SENDS IN
A PERSON THAT BASICALLY TOOK
ADVANTAGE OF THEM.
>> Reporter: IN A STATEMENT TO
NBC NEWS, THE ARMY SAYS THEY
CONDUCTED A THOROUGH CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATION AND FOUND THIS TO
BE AN ISOLATED CASE AND THAT
THEY REMAIN DEDICATED TO CARING
FOR FAMILIES OF FALLEN SOLDIERS.
FOR SHARON, IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT
THE MONEY.
>> I FEEL LIKE I LET MY SON
DOWN, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THIS
WAS HIS WAY OF TAKING CARE OF ME
AND MY CHILDREN.
YOU KNOW?