|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
June 27, 2008
TRIAL SET FOR WICHITA DAYCARE PROVIDER CHARGED WITH $300,000 THEFT OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS
WICHITA, KAN. – Trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 8, 2008, for a Wichita daycare provider who is charged with the theft of $300,000 in government funds.
Patrice Fields, 32, Wichita, is charged with one count of theft of government funds, nine counts of wire fraud, and 11 counts of money laundering, The government also is seeking the forfeiture of $311,204 in proceeds from the crimes.
According to an indictment unsealed June 2, 2008, Fields was the owner of Play 2 Learn, a daycare center, which she reported operating at 2245 N. Roosevelt and 1755 N. Madison in Wichita. She submitted claims for payment for her services to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services. The state receives federal funds through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the Child Care Development Fund, which are managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
According to the indictment, Fields failed to maintain required attendance records, failed to comply with requirements of SRS and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and is unable to prove she provided the services that she was paid for. In addition to requiring attendance records, the state puts limits on the number of children in a facility (based partly on ages), as well as the number of hours a provider can work per day, including both hours spent at the daycare and at other jobs.
The indictment alleges that Fields committed wire fraud by fraudulently obtaining funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Child Development Fund in Baltimore, Md. It also alleges she committed money laundering by transferring the unlawfully obtained funds to accounts for West America Mortgage, Tracy Harris, Shelley Harding and Sherry Anderson, as well as Fields’ own accounts.
If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the theft charge; 20 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each wire fraud count, and 20 years and a fine up to $500,000 on each money laundering count. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service, the Wichita Police Department and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services investigated.
##