Home health care owner overcharged NC clients $1M for lavish shopping sprees, feds say
A 90-year-old man in Western North Carolina had dementia and couldn’t manage his own affairs when his close family friend — an 86-year-old who served as his power of attorney and lived nearby — signed them both up for home health care services, according to federal court filings.
In the 16 months that followed, prosecutors said, they’d be overcharged by $1 million.
Lindsey Allison Kerns was the owner of Home Care Coordinators LLC in Buncombe and Madison counties and was hired to provide the services, prosecutors said. On Dec. 22, Kerns was charged with wire fraud and money laundering.
Kerns was scheduled to plead guilty in federal court on Wednesday, Dec. 29, but she had tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the judge to delay her hearing, court documents filed in the Western District of North Carolina show.
A defense attorney representing her did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment, and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case beyond what’s available in public court documents.
According to filings accompanying Kerns’ plea agreement, the alleged fraud dates back to December 2018, when Kerns contracted with two victims to provide home health care services.
The victims — identified in court documents only as SA and PR — were 86 and 90, respectively, prosecutors said. They lived close by in Asheville, North Carolina, and, because of PR’s dementia, SA controlled his finances.
Under the agreement with Kerns and her company, a caregiver was reportedly scheduled to come to PR’s house for 10 hours a day, seven days a week, at a rate of $20 an hour. SA was expected to receive care six hours a day, five days a week, at the same rate.
Kerns also agreed to be on call for both of them 24/7, according to court documents.
But Kerns never provided SA with invoices, prosecutors said, opting instead to tell him weekly what was owed. SA then wrote the checks from his and PR’s bank accounts.
According to court filings, she “regularly overbilled SA and PR for the provided services” — including sending more caregivers than needed, overcharging for the care actually provided, double-billing for extra services and billing at a higher rate than what was initially agreed. Prosecutors said Kerns also rented out PR’s properties at “rates far below market value.”.
As a result, SA paid Kerns about $1.46 million between December 2018 and April 2020. Prosecutors said the value of the services provided was actually closer to $376,992 — meaning Kerns overcharged them by $1.08 million.
Kerns is also accused of convincing SA to write multiple checks for high dollar amounts, which prosecutors said she used to buy a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, a 2019 Toyota Tacoma and two ATVs.
Throughout 2019, the government said, she spent thousands of dollars shopping at Louis Vuitton and TJ Maxx, buying tickets from Stubhub and paying for hotels — including $4,500 at The Tides at Folly Beach in South Carolina.
When the FBI started investigating, Kerns told agents she had provided her employees with the necessary IRS forms and had purchased the cars as “payment for services rendered,” court documents state. The government said she also gave the grand jury doctored invoices and failed to pay her personal income and business taxes during the alleged scheme.
A judge has postponed Kerns’ arraignment and plea hearing until she is “medically cleared to appear for these in-person proceedings,” court filings show.
This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Home health care owner overcharged NC clients $1M for lavish shopping sprees, feds say."
