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Suburbs Scoundrel: Bolingbrook Biz Owner Sentenced for Kickback Scheme
CHICAGO — In a shocking display of greed, 59-year-old Darren A. Smith of Hazel Crest, Illinois, has been found guilty of paying kickbacks to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employee in exchange for procuring orders of medical equipment from his Bolingbrook-based medical distribution company.
A week-long trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago saw the jury return a guilty verdict on all eight wire fraud counts against Smith. Each count carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang has set sentencing for September 10, 2024.
According to evidence presented at trial, Smith schemed with a procurement clerk in the Veterans Health Administration Prosthetics Service in Chicago to have the VA order costly medical equipment from Smith’s company. The orders placed by the clerk involved unnecessary and more expensive rentals of certain medical equipment from Smith’s company instead of purchasing the equipment outright, as VA physicians had instructed.
From 2017 to 2020, the VA spent more than $2.7 million at Smith’s company and fraudulently overpaid it by more than $1.3 million. In exchange, the clerk, 68-year-old Andrew Lee of Chicago, pocketed kickbacks from Smith of at least $220,000. Lee pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge prior to trial and is awaiting sentencing.
The VA procurement clerk’s actions have left taxpayers footing the bill for the kickback scheme. The VA spent millions of dollars on unnecessary equipment, and the VA employee took home a tidy sum for his role in the scheme.
The conviction was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Gregory Billingsley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Central Field Office. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heidi Manschreck and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Christenson.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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