Laurie Ehrhart, Health Care Fraud, Pennsylvania 2018

HARRISBURG – A Perry County woman has been sentenced for her part in a shocking scheme to defraud a disabled veteran out of nearly half a million dollars.

Laurie Ehrhart, 48, from New Bloomfield, was handed down a six-month home confinement sentence and two years’ probation by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner for aiding her former husband in the fraudulent misappropriation of $316,360.

Ehrhart pleaded guilty to one count of Health Care Fraud on December 7, 2018. Her former spouse, Jason Ehrhart, was sentenced to 19 months’ incarceration on April 15, 2019, after also pleading guilty to the same charge.

Their criminal activities targeted Michael Ehrhart, a disabled veteran diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1985. Michael began receiving VA disability benefits in 1998 and Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits in 2006 following his hospitalization at the VA hospital in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

In August 2006, deemed incompetent to manage his finances by the VA, Michael’s brother, Jason Ehrhart, was appointed as his fiduciary. The agreement stipulated that all funds be used solely for Michael’s benefit. However, between January 2009 and August 2016, $316,360 of the $476,260 in federal benefits were funneled into the couple’s personal accounts.

Jason Ehrhart, who was also named as a fiduciary, drew checks totalling $218,832 against Michael’s account. A portion of these funds went to their joint checking account, while at least $23,496 was converted to cash. The couple used the money for personal expenses and gifts, including paying for dental work for a friend’s wife and covering costs for two all-expense-paid vacations to Disney World in Florida.

Jason Ehrhart concealed his theft by submitting eight fraudulent annual accountings to the VA, grossly inflating expenditures. The properties associated with the veteran’s residence were lost due to default judgments after Jason claimed he paid them.

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