16/08/2023
Our next scammer to be featured, recently came up on our radar due to postings on the Stolen Valor page, his name is Darius Simon, now Mr. Simon claims to be a Veteran, and part of that may be true. His DD-214 has been shared with many groups and lots of genuine vets have weighed in. There is still some debate if Simon has ever served in the Military, or he simply served a short tour in the Louisiana National Guard then got out. His DD214 shows that he allegedly served in Iraq for just over a year as an Infantrymen, and was awarded the typical metals and ribbons as well as the Combat Infantry Badge, and the Louisiana Cross. This all well might be true, although there is considerable suspicion that the 214 is a forgery. There is no evidence that there is another DD-214 showing his further progression up the ranks, as the National Guard issues many DD-214s when their members deploy or are on Federal Service vs state service etc. Mr. Simon’s DD-214 appears to show that he was discharged with the rank of E-04 however in photographs which he posted to his various social media pages, he is shown wearing the rank of a Sergeant in one picture, and a Staff Sergeant in another; furthermore the unit patch and combat patch are not even sewn on in accordance with Army Regulation 670-1, which leads viewers to conclude that he does not have any knowledge of how to wear the uniform correctly. There is a video that was forwarded to me of his attendance at a rodeo where the announcer said that Simon was the holder of the Purple Heart, which of course would indicate that he was wounded in combat, which his DD-214 does not indeed show, it is unknown if subsequent DD-214s show follow-on tours in Iraq or if he indeed was wounded in action.
It’s one thing to pretend, and it’s quite another thing to convince the Marine Corps League to donate $1500.00 to buy and train a service dog, which is exactly what he did. Not only is it illegal in most states to use veteran status for personal gain, when money is involved depending on what state you are in, it takes on a whole new criminal scope. On October 18 2022, the Park Rapids Enterprise ran a story that featured a beautiful picture of Darius Simon posing with members of the Marine League accepting a check for $1500.00 to replace and train his dead service dog. This article can be seen on the Enterprise site:
https://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/news/local/marine-corps-league-helps-simon-get-service-dog
Marine Corps League Commander Don Haagenson is quoted as saying “He’s done a lot for veterans throughout Hubbard County and outside Hubbard County”. Scam Hunters attempted to Contact the League, but we received no reply. According to the article, Darius “adopted a Belgian Malinois from an un-mentioned breeder, We were contacted by an anonymous source who told us that the breeder goes by the Facebook name of Adrian Anne, who we have contacted but we did not receive a reply. It is not known if Darius presented himself as a Disabled Veteran to the breeder or not. An extremely reputable service dog training company, Dakota K9 Academy in West Fargo, N.D owned by Jordan Carr was approached by Simson, but when Simpson was required by the company to submit his VA paperwork which would show that he is entitled to receive such benefits, Simson went dark and did not provide the required paperwork, and this ended the training request, and we can be thankful to Dakota K-9 for being on that wall standing guard against scammers. It is unknown if Simpson eventually convinced someone train a service dog for him, although there is a picture of a German Shepard or Malinois type dog on his FB page. There are plenty of reputable trainers and breeders out there who are simply innocent victims and fall prey like many others to a con man. No one who is conned should be blamed for anything; however due diligence on the part of Veteran advocacy groups should be exercised, and these groups should conduct better background checks.
At some point Simon convinced the Hubbard County, MN human resources office that he should be hired as the county’s Veteran Service Officer, and he served in that position from 04/29/2019 – 05/06/2022 but for unknown reasons Darius Simon was replaced as the Veteran Service Officer by Aaron Majors a twenty year Air Force Veteran. An article featured in the Enterprise tells of the replacement but does not indicate as the reason why Simon was let go. We contacted the Veteran Service Office, but received no reply.
https://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/news/local/aaron-majors-is-hubbard-countys-new-assistant-vso
Scam Hunters contacted Gina Teems the HR manager of the Hubbard county Human Resources Office for some insight, and consistent with Minnesota law, she could only confirm his employment dates. It is puzzling why the Hubbard County Sheriff was not involved in any investigation of this fraud. We contacted the Hubbard County Prosecutor’s office and they were not aware of any investigations or recommendations for prosecution issued by any law enforcement agency.
The Disabled American Veterans or DAV was contacted about Simon being a member, as there are indications that he was appointed to a leadership role in the DAV, and “off the record” mentioned that Simon’s membership was terminated. Until quite recently Simon maintained a FB page showing that he was the commander of the Park Rapids DAV chapter 38, this of course was not an official DAV page. I contacted the actual DAV commander of Chapter 38 and his response was “Thank you for input. I am the current commander for the chapter as well as 4th junior vice for the state. I can assure you Darius is no longer involved with the chapter or the DAV. The DAV didn't donate for the purchase of the dog and we cannot control how the other veteran organizations spend their funds. I would invite you to attend our next meeting which is also our picnic which is 22nd at 5pm at American legion in park rapids. We are continuing to do great things for the local veterans and family, Thanks again” Rich Batcho
I reached out to Mr. Simon on his now disabled fake DAV chapter 38 page, and he responded with “Bahahahahahahahahaha Ok buddy go back to your mom’s basement and hide behind your keyboard”
Darius Simon’s page is located here:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007954036281
As far as the original article, the Park Rapids Enterprise is not willing to run a follow up article about Simon, or retract or explain the article that they wrote. In an email response from the media outlet, the Editor Sharron Geisen, wrote: “Darius Simon does not work for the Hubbard County Veteran Service Office nor does he live in this area anymore. He moved away a year or so ago. It's up to the Star of the North Marine Corps League to take legal action, if they feel they were duped. After discussing this with my publisher and editorial manager, we will not be pursuing an article about your allegations”. Of course, these are not simply allegations, and everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty; however a media outlet should ensure that they have indeed followed up on the stories they write if there are new developments.
It appears that Darius Simon has indeed moved away from the Park Rapids and Hubbard County Community but only an hour or so away to the Fergus Falls/ Detroit Lakes vicinity, and either lives in Otter Tail County or Becker County. His phone number is reported to be 218-850-1805 if anyone wants to contact him for comment or to buy his Jeep which is listed for sale on the Fergus Falls buy and sell FB page.
Darius Simon has not posted anything lately claiming to be what he is not, but that doesn’t mean that he is out of the scam business, further monitoring will definitely be in order. Some of our contributors did not want to be identified out of fear and one said that Simon has a criminal record and is dangerous. This is not for us to judge, but when people are scared to come forward to tell the truth there are definitely are some red flags being raised.
As always, we base our findings on our targets own social media accounts, newspapers and other media outlets and testimony from others who know the individual or have firsthand knowledge of their activities. All persons are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
