Note to anyone thinking of committing BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) fraud, IT DOES NOT WORK especially if you put San Francisco down as the home of residence:

A staff sergeant formerly assigned to Kunsan Air Base was sentenced to six months confinement and given a bad-conduct discharge earlier this month for housing allowance fraud and related charges.

Staff Sgt. Gwenda Z. Guika, 27, was court-martialed from Sept. 4 to 8 at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. She also was given a reduction in rank to E-1 and forfeiture of all pay.

Guika was charged with larceny of basic allowance for housing, seven counts of making false official statements and two specifications of dereliction of duty. Guika claimed her minor daughter was living in a suburb of San Francisco, and collected a housing allowance for that area. Her daughter actually was living in American Samoa, where housing allowances are lower, said Capt. James Lischer of Kunsan’s legal office.

Guika stole a little more than $2,600 between May 20, 2005, and April 25, 2006, Lischer said. She was stationed at Kunsan from April 2003 to April 2004, and again from May 2005 to June 2007, including 14 months when she was on administrative hold. [Stars & Stripes]

She is an airman so I’m not sure what inprocessing procedures they have but the last time I was stationed in the 2nd Infantry Division when I inprocessed they had a finance person give a briefing and then had everyone fill out their housing forms.  He gave a five minute brief that anyone that puts down an area that has a high BAH rate will be investigated by CID.  Especially if you put down San Francisco since it has the highest BAH rate in the country.  Yet despite being briefed people still commit BAH fraud and get booted from the military and get bad conduct discharges for stealing just a few thousand dollars.  It is not worth it.