Covington Man Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud Conspiracy

NEW ORLEANS—Boyd William Leahy, age 45, a resident of Covington, Louisiana, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

According to the charges in an indictment filed in May 2012, the Leahy, a Covington-area couple, were employed at a sleep clinic in Covington, Louisiana, owned by their friends, two local physicians. The indictment charged that Boyd Leahy, as the office manager for the clinic, and Angelina Leahy, as the part-time billing clerk, conspired to commit health care fraud by creating a rival business entity, Sleep Corp., that the Leahys used to fraudulently bill insurance companies for services that were actually rendered by their employing clinic. When the Leahys received insurance payments on behalf of their rival company Sleep Corp., they kept the proceeds rather than giving it to their friends and employers, whose clinic actually rendered the services. Angelina Leahy then doctored the payment records for their employing clinic to further conceal their fraud.

Additionally, as alleged in the indictment, Boyd Leahy, as office manager of the clinic, used his position to generate extra paychecks for himself and to pay himself more than he was authorized to earn and he did the same for his wife, Angelina Leahy. Boyd Leahy also added his daughter, his father, and a creditor to his employing clinic’s payroll without authorization, causing paychecks to be issued when none of these individuals had performed any work on the clinic’s behalf. Boyd Leahy also used the employing clinic’s corporate credit card and business checking account to fund personal expenses, trips, and household utilities without the clinic owners’ knowledge or authorization. The total loss sustained by the clinic owners for this fraudulent scheme totals $827,946.

If convicted, Boyd Leahy faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. Additionally, the indictment seeks forfeiture and restitution to the victims. Sentencing for Boyd Leahy is set for November 1, 2012.

Angelina Leahy pled guilty on July 25, 2012, and sentencing is scheduled for October 18, 2012.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Inspector General for the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Juliana Etland.