Press Release  On Veterans Day, AG Healey Announces New Veterans Affairs Coordinator and Highlights Efforts To Expand Services

BOSTON — In commemoration of Veterans Day, Attorney General Maura Healey today announced she has appointed William Aiello, a veteran of the Afghanistan War, to serve as her office’s Veterans Affairs Coordinator. AG Healey also highlighted her office’s ongoing efforts to provide veterans, servicemembers, and their families with resources and support.

As the Veterans Affairs Coordinator for the AG’s Office, Aiello – a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and an Assistant Attorney General in AG Healey’s Criminal Bureau – will be the office’s point of contact for veterans’ issues and initiatives. Aiello will focus on connecting Veterans Service Officers and others in the community with office staff and developing new collaborative partnerships that enhance the assistance the AG’s Office provides.

“Our veterans, servicemembers, and their families have made countless sacrifices to keep us safe, and in return, they deserve our respect, support, and protection,” said AG Healey. “Under Bill’s leadership, this office will expand our work to ensure our veterans, service members and military families across the state have access to the benefits and support they need.”

Aiello has been a prosecutor in the AG’s Office since 2021 and works in the Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Division. As an assistant attorney general in the division, Aiello works to protect consumers and the integrity of the insurance system by prosecuting those who commit fraud against a variety of insurers.

Prior to joining the AG’s Office, Aiello served as an assistant district attorney in both the Suffolk and Plymouth County District Attorney’s Offices, during which time he completed his LL.M. from Georgetown Law Center. While at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, he was the prosecutor assigned to the Boston Veterans Treatment Court.

Aiello enlisted as an active-duty Marine for eight years and was a Reconnaissance Team Leader at 2d Reconnaissance Battalion, 2d Marine Division. His professional education in the Marine Corps includes graduating from the School of Infantry, the Basic Reconnaissance Course, and the U.S. Army Basic Airborne Course. Aiello is the fifth member of his family to complete a combat deployment, having served in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

In addition to the Veterans Affairs Coordinator, AG Healey announced how her office continues to support the veteran community in a number of ways.

• Protecting Consumers: The AG’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division (CARD) provides direct assistance to veterans to help them resolve disputes with businesses and overcome barriers accessing the benefits they earned. In the first half of 2022, the Division handled more than 3,000 consumer complaints from veterans and active-duty service members on a wide range of issues including unemployment, travel, and various scams. CARD also works closely with the state’s Department of Veterans Services and with the Massachusetts Veterans Services Officer Association.
• Stopping Scam Charities: The AG’s Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division investigates and stop charities fraudulently claiming to help veterans. This Division ensures appropriate application of charitable assets, investigates allegations, and initiates enforcement actions in cases of breach of fiduciary duty. The Division also supports charities helping veterans save money on filing fees through the Veterans’ Charitable Organization (VCO) certification process, which waives fee requirements for charities established to benefit veterans and fundraising without the assistance of a professional fundraiser.

• Advocating for Reproductive Care: In October 2022, AG Healey joined a multistate coalition in support of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) rule that removes exclusions on abortion counseling and establishes broader access to abortion care for veterans and their beneficiaries.
• Holyoke Soldier’s Home: The AG’s Medicaid Fraud Division investigated and brought charges against the former superintendent and medical director at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, alleging that their decision to combine two dementia units in March 2020 resulted in neglect of elderly veterans and increased the risk that those veterans would contract COVID-19. While a Superior Court judge dismissed those charges in November 2021, the AG’s Office is appealing the dismissal in the Supreme Judicial Court.
• Access to Housing: The AG’s Neighborhood Renewal Division worked with Veterans Transition House in New Bedford to convert an abandoned property into transitional housing through receivership, completing construction in mid-2020.
• Student Borrower Protections: In August 2022, AG Healey co-led a bipartisan group of states in commending the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed improvements to the 90/10 Rule, which prohibits for-profit schools from receiving more than 90 percent of their revenue from federal student aid. The new rules would eliminate loopholes which created financial incentives for schools to aggressively target members of the military.

Veterans looking for more information or assistance with their student loans should visit the AG’s Student Loan Assistance website or call the Student Loan Assistance Unit Hotline at 1-888-830-6277. Veterans with other questions or concerns can call the Attorney General’s consumer hotline at 617-727-8400 or file a complaint with the office. 

For more information, see the AG’s Veterans Resource Guide. 

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