Owner Of Bolingbrook Company Found Guilty Of Wire Fraud

BOLINGBROOK, IL — The owner of a Bolingbrook-based medical supply company has been convicted of federal fraud charges, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

After a week-long trial in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, a jury found Darren Smith, 59, of Hazel Crest, guilty of all eight wire fraud counts against him, the Attorney's Office said.

Smith will be sentenced on Sept. 10. Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

According to the Attorney's Office, Smith operated a medical distribution company based in Bolingbrook. Evidence at trial revealed that Smith schemed with a procurement clerk in the Veterans Health Administration Prosthetics Service in Chicago to have the VA order costly medical equipment from Smith’s company in exchange for concealed kickbacks to the clerk.

The orders placed by the clerk involved unnecessary and more expensive rentals of certain medical equipment from Smith’s company instead of purchasing the equipment outright, as VA physicians had instructed, the Attorney's Office said.

From 2017 to 2020, the VA spent more than $2.7 million at Smith’s company and fraudulently overpaid it by more than $1.3 million. In exchange, the clerk pocketed kickbacks from Smith of at least $220,000, according to the release.

The procurement clerk, Andrew Lee, 68, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge prior to trial. He is awaiting sentencing, the Attorney's Office said.