If there was a television show that featured the extravagant lifestyles of the momentarily rich and fraudulent, today ‘s fraudster would have an entire episode dedicated just to her. She fell for the typical fraudster ‘s dream ,she truly thought she could have everything she wanted by stealing money from others. In this case, her victims were a bank and the federal government.
The woman ‘s first crime used her position as Vice President of Marketing for a bank to complete the scam. She embezzled about $101,000 from the bank and used the money to fund a wedding consulting business, loaned money to her friends, and used corporate credit cards to pay for parties and trips for herself to Disneyland, Las Vegas and the NBA All Star Game. (She was definitely living the life of a momentarily rich fraudster. Because you know stolen riches don’t last forever.) She served 15 months in prison for her fraudulent antics at the bank.
The second case where the fraudster was most recently convicted involved a plot to use her company, which was co-owned by her husband, to submit fraudulent claims to the Nebraska Medicaid program for mental health and substance abuse services. (Over about two-and-a-half-years, she submitted 1,150 bogus claims for services that therapists never provided.)
The second time around, she pleaded guilty to one out of 15 health care fraud counts she had been charged with. The 47-year-old ‘s plea agreement states that she will serve 18 months in prison and pay restitution in the amount of $105,550 to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
Apparently the other 14 counts this fraudster was charged with will be dismissed when she is sentenced. But it ‘s up to the judge to decide if the terms of the plea agreement will be accepted. No matter what the final outcome is, you can be sure she will not be having any champagne wishes or caviar dreams while serving time behind bars.
Source: Today’s “Fraud of the Day” is based on an article entitled, “Omaha woman will serve time for 2nd six-figure financial crime,” published by Omaha World-Herald on June 4, 2017.
An Omaha woman will again serve a stretch in prison after she pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court to her second six-figure financial crime in a decade.
Chandra Wrightsell, 47, admitted that she submitted fraudulent claims to Nebraska Medicaid for mental health and substance abuse services. She pleaded guilty to one of the 15 health care fraud counts on which she had been indicted.
