TOPEKA, KAN. – The owners of a home health services company in Wichita have been indicted on federal charges of filing false income tax returns and failing to report $3.4 million in income, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced today.

Betty Lessard, 72, Wichita, Kan., and her husband, Gerard Lessard, 66, Wichita, Kan., owners of ProActive Home Care, Inc., and ProActive Home Health Services, Inc., are charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of filing false income tax returns and two counts of tax evasion.

The indictment alleges they conspired to file false federal income tax returns and attempted to evade taxes by omitting on their personal federal income tax returns $3.49 million worth of income they received from writing themselves checks and paying their personal expenses from their businesses’ bank accounts. By not reporting that income, the Lessards evaded paying more than $620,000 in income taxes.

The indictment alleges the Lessards used ProActive’s financial accounts to pay for $1.4 million in personal expenses they did not report as income. The personal expenses included purchasing, leasing and restoring a Rolls Royce, a Bentley, a Porsche and several Mercedes Benz automobiles, landscaping at their home including a golf hole with two tee boxes, mortgage payments on their $2 million home, decorating their home, paying their personal credit card bills and paying bills for relatives. The indictment alleges they filed false personal income tax returns in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Conspiracy to evade taxes: A maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Filing false income tax returns: A maximum penalty of three years in federal prison and a fine up to $100,000 on each count.
Tax evasion: A maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $100,000.

Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway is prosecuting.

In a related case, Caela M. White-Kinchion, 46, Bel Aire, Kan., a registered nurse and director of nursing for ProActive Home Care, Inc., is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud Medicaid and 12 counts of health care fraud.

The indictment alleges White-Kinchion was responsible for submitting false claims to Medicaid for home health services that were not provided, were up-coded, supported by false documentation or not medically necessary. Based on the false claims, proactive received more than $23.4 million from Medicaid for services purportedly provided to 693 beneficiaries.

The indictment alleges that for 2005 and 2006, Proactive was the highest paid home health care agency in the state of Kansas, averaging approximately $15,000 per client, compared to the next highest paid, which averaged $10,000 per client. It also alleges White-Kinchion recruited clients who were unlikely to complain that they were not receiving home health services, including individuals who were homeless, suffering from psychiatric conditions or suffering from chemical dependency.

The indictment alleges White-Kinchion gave nurses working for Proactive schedules indicating which clients were to be visited at what times and for exactly how long. She caused the nurses to document services that had not been delivered or were “up-coded” to overstate the services provided. As a result, Proactive submitted claims for clients who were in the hospital, nursing home, residential care facility, treatment center or were deceased.

If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the conspiracy charge, and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count of health care fraud.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Loren Snell and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble are prosecuting.

OTHER INDICTMENTS

A grand jury meeting in Topeka, Kan., also returned the following indictments:

Shannon J. Wright, 20, Topeka, Kan., is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The crimes are alleged to have occurred Aug. 26, 2010, in Shawnee County, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million on the crack charge, a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, and a penalty of not less than five years and not more than life and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Slinkard is prosecuting.

Allen Dulaney, 33, Junction City, Kan., is charged with two counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction and one count of unlawful possession of a sawed-off shotgun. The crimes are alleged to have occurred in 2009 and 2010 in Geary County, Kan.

Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Possession with intent to distribute: A maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction: A maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Unlawful possession of a sawed-off shotgun: A maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

The Junction City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Hendershot is prosecuting.

Terrin Robert Holloway, 21, Topeka, Kan., is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. The crime is alleged to have occurred Nov. 28, 2010, in Shawnee County, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Topeka Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Hendershot is prosecuting.

Anthony Dean Gastineau, 51, Springfield, Ohio, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. The crime is alleged to have occurred Nov. 8, 2010, in Geary County, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Hendershot is prosecuting.

Lepoleon Redmond III, 20, Topeka, Kan., is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. The crime is alleged to have occurred Jan. 19, 2011, in Shawnee County, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Hendershot is prosecuting.

Secundo K. Williams, 34, who is in custody in the Shawnee County Jail, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. The crime is alleged to have occurred Jan. 14, 2011, in Shawnee County, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison
and a fine up to $250,000. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Michael Warner is prosecuting.

Frank E. Holloway III, 23, Topeka, Kan., is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. The crime is alleged to have occurred Nov. 22, 2010, in Shawnee County, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison
and a fine up to $250,000. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard is prosecuting.

In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.

 

 

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