Tulsa’s Carpenter Faces Fraud Charges in $1M Cancer Scam

TULSA, Okla. — Antonella Carpenter, 70, the operator of Lase Med cancer treatment clinics in Owasso and Broken Arrow, faced federal charges today for an alleged $1 million scam involving fraudulent cancer treatments. According to U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr., Carpenter entered a plea of not guilty to 41 counts of fraud.

Carpenter is accused of orchestrating a scheme from November 2006 to December 2012, where she falsely claimed to cure various cancers using ‘Light Induced Enhanced Selective Hyperthemia’ (LIESH). She promised patients that the treatments were 100% effective with no side effects. However, Carpenter is not a medical doctor.

The superseding indictment filed on October 15, 2014, charges Carpenter with inducing individuals to travel in interstate commerce for at least $5,000 and using wire communications and the U.S. mail to defraud patients. She faces up to 10 years for counts 1 through 5 and up to 20 years for the remaining counts.

Carpenter’s fraudulent scheme is said to have generated proceeds of at least $1,102,160. The case was investigated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration–Office of Criminal Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin C. Leitch, Clemon Ashley, and Catherine Depew.

Antonella Carpenter, a resident of Tulsa, is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations.

U.S. v. Antonella Carpenter.