A procurement supervisor at Chicago-based Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center was charged in a $1.7 million kickback scheme, the U.S. Justice Department said Feb. 5.
Thomas Duncan, the supervisor in the medical center's supply department, allegedly pocketed kickbacks from Daniel Dingle, the president of a medical supply company in Dolton, Ill.
According to prosecutors, Mr. Duncan received $36,250 in kickbacks paid by checks and an additional amount in cash from Mr. Dingle from 2012 to 2019. In exchange, Mr. Duncan allegedly steered at least $1.7 million in product orders to the supply company.
Prosecutors said that in order to conceal the kickbacks, the checks were paid by Helping Hands Properties, a third-party entity managed by Mr. Duncan.
Mr. Duncan also allegedly attempted to shield the kickbacks when the Veterans Affairs Inspector General’s Office began investigating. According to prosecutors, Mr. Duncan told Mr. Dingle to falsely tell investigators that the payments he received were for work performed by Helping Hands Properties.
The indictment charges Mr. Duncan with five counts of wire fraud, one count of witness tampering and one count of falsifying records.
Mr. Dingle is charged with four counts of wire fraud, according to the Justice Department news release.