CHICAGO — Thomas E. Duncan, a former procurement supervisor at the Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, has admitted in federal court to pocketing thousands of dollars in kickbacks from the president of a medical supply company.
According to court documents, Duncan, 39, of Chicago, received kickbacks from Daniel Dingle, the president of a medical supply company based in the Chicago suburb of Dolton, in exchange for steering product orders to the company. The checks were made payable to Helping Hands Properties LLC, a third-party entity managed by Duncan, and contained false and misleading memo entries to conceal the true purpose of the payments.
The fraud scheme began in 2012 and continued until 2019. In late 2018, after Duncan became aware of the investigation by the VA Inspector General’s Office, he created fake invoices from Helping Hands purporting to document work performed for Dingle’s company.
Duncan also instructed Dingle to falsely tell investigators that the payments Duncan received from Dingle’s company were for work performed by Helping Hands.
Both Duncan and Dingle pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of wire fraud, punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger set Duncan’s sentencing for November 30, 2023. Dingle’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
The government is seeking restitution of approximately $1,719,219 to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which will be determined by the court at the time of sentencing.
The guilty pleas were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Gregory Billingsley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Central Field Office. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heidi Manschreck.
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Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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