David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, announced today the indictment of a Louisville daycare owner on charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.
Lottie Carisa Burgos, the owner and operator of ABC Village Daycare, was charged in a 20-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on July 16, 2014. Burgos made an initial appearance in federal court today following her arrest.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
Burgos operated ABC Village Daycare at two locations, 1801 West Market Street, Louisville, Kentucky, and 2823 7th Street Road, Louisville, Kentucky. According to the indictment, Burgos or others acting at her direction falsified a wide range of information which was a condition of payment for child care services from Kentucky’s Department for Community Based Services. The Department for Community Based Services provides child care benefits to low-income working parents and guardians. Burgos or others acting at her direction are alleged to have falsified the following information: high school diplomas, negative tuberculosis tests and CPR certificates of ABC Village Daycare employees; the employment status of parents; the number of children who attended the daycare centers; and the number of days children attended the daycare centers. In 12 separate counts, the indictment charges Burgos committed wire fraud on occasions ranging from March 2011 through March 2013. The fraud charges detailed in the indictment are associated with payments from the Department for Community Based Services totaling $275,576. At Burgos’ initial appearance today before Magistrate Judge James Moyer, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Weiser stated that the total loss was approximately 1.4 million dollars.
The indictment includes two charges that Burgos twice committed aggravated identity theft: in August 2011 she used without authority the name of another, unidentified person on a fraudulent CPR certificate to prove that person was CPR-certified; and in January 2012 she used without authority the name of another, unidentified person to bill for child care services that were not actually rendered.
The indictment also charges Burgos with six counts of money laundering, alleging that she engaged in various financial transactions with money derived from her wire-fraud scheme on six different occasions ranging from September 2011 through May 2012.
If convicted of all counts, Burgos faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, a maximum sentence of 304 years in prison, a maximum fine of $5,000,000, and up to three years of supervised release. The Court may also order that the defendant make restitution to the victim agency.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser and was investigated by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
