HOUSTON - A 76-year-old Houston woman has been ordered to prison following her conviction of conspiring to commit fraud against the Veterans Administration (VA) by generating purchase orders for fictitious goods and services, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
Eduora McDaniel aka Eudora McDaniel pleaded guilty Jan. 31, 2019 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
At a hearing that concluded late yesterday, U.S. District Judge David Hittner handed McDaniel the maximum 60-month sentence to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted further ordered McDaniel to pay $290,000 restitution and a $100,000 fine and ordered the government to garnish the maximum amount of McDaniel’s government pension until the restitution and fines are paid.
McDaniel admitted she conspired with a vendor to defraud the VA by submitting fake invoices for goods and services that never happened. As a prosthetics representative for the VA, McDaniel had the authority to obtain prosthetic goods and services if a physician found it medically necessary, which she was authorized to pay using a government-issued VISA credit card. McDaniel created fake purchase orders for her co-conspirator’s company and paid them using her government credit card. McDaniel and the co-conspirator then split the payments.
McDaniel’s co-conspirator, Angela Hunter, pleaded guilty in August 2018 and is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 13, 2019.
McDaniel has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The VA - Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Belinda Beek is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
