Wisconsin Attorney Sentenced to Five and a Half Years in Federal Prison for $2.3 Million Fraud and Tax Evasion Schemes

INDIANAPOLIS- Leslie Smith, 63, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to health care fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. Smith must also pay $2,341,655.08 in restitution.

According to court documents, for years, Leslie Smith engaged in multiple fraud schemes against her employer, relatives, and the government. Smith was a licensed attorney in the state of Wisconsin at the time she committed these crimes.

Smith was employed as the Office Manager for a podiatry practice located in Indianapolis. For years, without the knowledge or consent of her employer, Smith submitted approximately 288 fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Medicaid for oxygen monitoring devices that were never ordered. Smith caused Medicaid to pay $559,197.67 on these false claims and also caused a total of $1,194,942.07 in Medicaid payments to be deposited to her personal bank account.

After being charged in federal court with health care fraud, Smith fraudulently obtained COVID-19 mortgage assistance funds for a home on Kessler Boulevard in Indianapolis. In the application documents, Smith falsely represented that she was the owner of the home. In reality, the owner was a relative of Smith who died in 2020.

Smith also sold a residence in Indianapolis that she jointly owned with another individual for approximately $380,000, without the knowledge or consent of the co-owner. Because she had forged the co-owner’s signature on certain key documents, she was able to keep the entire profit of the home sale.

Smith did not file federal income tax returns from 2018 through 2021, and thereby failed to report approximately $1,299,179.01 in income. She prepared false tax returns for her employer and included all of her payments from Medicaid as income for her employer, in an effort to hide the fact that she was fraudulently receiving money from Medicaid.

“This criminal used her position of trust to lie, cheat, and steal from patients, her employer, and the public—fraudulently lining her pockets with over a million dollars intended to provide healthcare to disadvantaged Hoosiers,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “She continued to engage in new fraud schemes even while facing federal charges, demonstrating an utter disregard for the rule of law. Working together with our partners at Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, FBI, HHS-OIG, and the Indiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, our office is committed to protecting the public by unravelling complex schemes and holding fraudsters accountable. The federal prison sentence imposed here demonstrates that serious financial crimes will result in serious consequences.”

“This case originated from our office’s data mining efforts and confirms the importance of using every technology tool available to bring fraudsters to justice - even perpetrators who hide in the plain sight of a doctor’s office,” said Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita. “A special thanks to our Investigator Dan Shragal and Fraud Analyst Sarah Simpson for putting their foot down and ending this podiatrist staff member’s practice of sending millions of dollars in Medicaid payments to their own personal bank account.”

“Leslie Smith not only stole from American taxpayers, but her unbridled greed also betrayed her employer’s trust, shattering the fabric of trust that holds a workplace together,” said Justin Campbell, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office. “This prison sentence should serve as a stark reminder of the profound consequences of greed and deception.”

“Through the defendant’s egregious scheme to defraud the Indiana Medicaid program, she placed personal profits ahead of legitimate care and knowingly stole valuable taxpayer funds intended to provide resources for vulnerable populations in need of assistance,” said Special Agent in Charge Mario M. Pinto with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG values the continued collaboration with the Indiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, along with other federal law enforcement partners, and believes today’s sentence sends a strong message that those convicted of defrauding federal and state healthcare programs will be held accountable.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Treasury, Office of the Inspector General, and Indiana Attorney General’s Office – Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (“MFCU”) investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew B. Miller, who prosecuted this case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID‑19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID‑19  can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

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