Bradley Chiropractor, Former Office Manager Guilty of Fraud, Tax Charges

URBANA, Ill. – A chiropractor who previously owned and operated the Bradley Chiropractic Clinic, located in Bradley, Ill., pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and failure to file tax returns. Joseph Mayotte, 72, of Kankakee, Ill., appeared in Urbana before Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid. Mayotte’s trial had been scheduled to begin today with jury selection. Sentencing is scheduled on June 7, 2019. The clinic’s former office manager, Constance Leadingham, aka Connie, had previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing false income tax returns and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1, 2019.

Mayotte admitted that from January 2007 to October 2015, he executed a scheme to defraud Blue Cross / Blue Shield Insurance by submitting false billing claims. The false claims were typically made on behalf of patients for whom the clinic had not provided any services or were made in excess of the actual services provided. As a result, Blue Cross / Blue Shield paid the clinic more than $250,000 to which it was not entitled. Mayotte then used the money for his own benefit. In addition, Mayotte admitted that he failed to file federal income tax returns for tax years 2011 through 2014.

Leadingham, of Watseka, entered pleas of guilty on Nov. 28, 2017, to bank fraud and filing false income tax returns for tax years 2011, 2012, and 2013. Leadingham admitted that as the clinic’s office manager, she participated in the scheme by submitting fraudulent billing claims to the company. Leadingham then wrote checks payable to herself from the clinic’s checking account in addition to her salary. As a result, Leadingham obtained more than $380,000 to which she was not entitled. Further, Leadingham admitted that she did not disclose the additional income that she had fraudulently obtained from the clinic for her tax filings in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

The charges are the result of investigation by the FDIC Office of Inspector General; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eugene L. Miller and Timothy A. Bass represented the government in the case prosecutions.

The maximum statutory penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison; for bank fraud the penalty is up to 30 years in prison. The maximum statutory penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes; sentences are determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.