Attorney disbarred after federal fraud, tax convictions

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court revoked attorney Leslie M. Smith’s license to practice law in the state following her conviction of several federal crimes.

Smith, who was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 2018, is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was convicted of one count of health care fraud, three counts of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion.

According to court records, Smith was employed as the office manager for Healthy Feet, LLC, a provider of durable medical equipment, including oximeter devices. Her duties included submitting claims for Medicaid reimbursement and preparing the business owner’s individual income tax returns.

The United States filed a criminal complaint against Smith on June 7, 2023, charging her with one count of health care fraud. On Feb. 5, 2024, the court charged Smith with a total of eight charges, which Smith pled guilty to on May 8, 2024. She was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,341,655.08 in restitution and to forfeit her interests in several pieces of real estate, personal property and financial accounts.

According to court records, Smith submitted approximately 288 fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Medicaid for oximeter devices. The claims were fraudulent since the devices were never purchased or provided to patients. Smith received $559,197.67 in payment.

On or about Sept. 2, 2014, Smith, without the knowledge or consent of the business owner, changed the bank account that received Medicaid payments from Healthy Feet’s JPMorgan Chase business account to her personal banking account. Between Sept. 2, 2014, and Dec. 3, 2022, Smith fraudulently received about $1,194,942.07 in wired transfers of Medicaid payments that were intended to be received by Healthy Feet.

Another wire fraud charge is related to Smith selling a property jointly owned with her former spouse without their consent for approximately $380,000. She used her personal email account to send and receive messages regarding the sales transaction, including sending all the proceeds to her bank account. Smith also fraudulently put together a quitclaim deed, forging her former spouse’s signature and a notary signature. She received $347,948.79 in net proceeds from the sale.

Separately, Smith had a relative who owned residential property in Indianapolis. On April 4, 2023, she electronically submitted a fraudulent application to the Indiana Homeowner Assistance Fund (IHAF) for monthly mortgage payment assistance for the residence. The application falsely represented that Smith was her then-deceased relative. On June 13, 2023, she forged the signature of her relative on documents, including a promissory note, a closing approval form and a mortgage, and transmitted the documents to complete the application process. In June 2023, IHAF paid Smith $6,696.83 in mortgage reinstatement assistance.

The tax evasion counts date from tax years 2018 through 2021. During that time, Smith failed to file federal tax returns for herself, including failing to report $1,299,179.01 in income. In each tax year, Smith undertook deliberate acts to evade assessment of tax, including preparing false tax forms for the owner of Healthy Feet. To conceal the income she received, Smith falsely included Medicaid payments on the business owner’s individual income tax returns.

In 2023, the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation began an investigation into Smith’s criminal conduct. Smith filed a petition acknowledging she “cannot successfully defend (herself) against the professional misconduct being investigated.” Smith said she does not maintain a law office, has no clients and has no intention to practice law in the future.

The OLR said it supported Smith’s petition for consensual license revocation and requested the court revoke her license to practice law in Wisconsin. The court agreed, writing it was “the only appropriate sanction for her misconduct.”