South Richmond Woman Defrauds $1.3 Million From Birth Injury Fund
A South Richmond woman who pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson.
It is believed that 45-year-old Iris F. Allen, a single mother of two, defrauded as much as $1.3 million from a state fund for children who have lifelong birth injuries. According to investigators, Ms. Allen falsified or inflated invoices for handicap-accessible vans and housing renovation work. Apparently, she established two fictitious companies, including a design firm and van-conversion firm.
Judge Hudson described how the money that Ms. Allen defrauded was spent. Allegedly, she spent $200,000 for clothing and jewelry, $108,000 for household goods, $12,000 for electronics, $35,300 for vehicles and nearly $20,000 for shoes and handbags. Ms. Allen has been ordered to start making restitution once she leaves prison. Keep in mind that the fund she stole from was supposed to go toward the care of children injured at birth. At this point, only about $8,000 has been recovered.
Ms. Allen’s attorney, Arnold Henderson, told the court that no families went without benefits due to the theft. Later he mentioned legislative studies that showed a lax program supervision and tens of millions of dollars in investment losses. However, this statement wasn’t as surprising as something else he said – “there has been an environment there that created an opportunity for Iris to become someone other than who she really is.”