United States of America v. Lenard R. Monroe

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with defrauding the Unite States and making payments to non-physicians.

Lenard R. Monroe, age 52, owned Wellness Personal Care Service, which falsely billed Medicaid for thousands of hours of home healthcare services that were never performed. Monroe also paid codefendant Phillip Daniels more than $600,000 in illegal kickbacks to induce him to refer clients to the phony agency, and he used his status as a registered Medicaid provider to fraudulently apply for and receive almost a quarter of a million dollars in COVID relief funds earmarked for healthcare businesses that, unlike his own, had suffered losses due to the pandemic. Finally, Monroe spent money obtained from his criminal conduct to make extravagant personal purchases, including a limited production drag racing car called a Dodge Demon.

At sentencing, Monroe was ordered to pay nearly 3 million dollars in restitution: $2,543,216.62 to Wisconsin Medicaid and $247,167.90 to the United States Department of Health and Human Service’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). After completing his prison sentence, Monroe also will be on supervised release for three years.

“Fraud like this takes resources from every one of us, especially those Americans most in need of the public’s help,” said U.S. Attorney Schimel. “The strong sentence in this case not only holds the defendant accountable but also sends a powerful message to other potential thieves who would defraud the goodwill of the American people.”

“COVID relief funds were meant to be a lifeline to keep legitimate businesses open, employees paid, and communities afloat during a national crisis,” said Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office. “Leonard Monroe saw that lifeline as an opportunity to steal. By exploiting programs meant to help people survive an unprecedented moment, he committed fraud, laundered the proceeds, and tried to hide the money trail. IRS Criminal Investigation and its law enforcement partners followed that trail, exposed the scheme, and ensured Monroe will spend the next 11 years paying for his crimes.”

“Abusing public assistance programs is a serious matter, and those who do so can face severe consequences,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “I’m thankful to those who worked to get justice and for the collaboration among agencies in this case.”

The case was investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit, the DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Internal Revenue Service -Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the North Central High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, comprised of officers and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Milwaukee Police Department, West Allis Police Department, South Milwaukee Police Department, Wisconsin DCI, and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorneys Erica Lounsberry and Elizabeth Monfils prosecuted the case.

Sixty (60) months' imprisonment on Count One.

Seventy-two (72) months' imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently with each other and with the 72 months sentence imposed in Count Two but to run consecutively with the 60-months sentence in Count One.