A Festus woman has been accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a client of a Jefferson County program that provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, according to court records.
Laura E. Volkart, 42, has been charged with felony financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person and stealing more than $750. She was charged following an investigation by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
The Attorney General’s Office alleges Volkart stole $18,516 from a client while working as a program director for Missouri Mentor, 10320 Business 21, in Hillsboro. She allegedly stole the money from Jan. 1, 2022, through Sept. 31, 2023.
Volkart was arrested on Monday and as of Tuesday, she was being held on a $10,000 bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court and jail records show.
Court documents do not list an attorney for Volkart.
According to the probable-cause statement filed by a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigator, Volkart manipulated people who helped with a client’s finances to send her money to pay for the man’s medical services, a washer, recliner, clothes, desk and other items. However, the investigator claims Volkart kept the money for her personal use.
The man had been diagnosed with moderate intellectual disabilities, mixed receptive-expressive language disorder, Down syndrome and early onset Alzheimer’s disease, according to the report.
A woman told the investigator she first met Volkart in 2016, when Volkart was a direct support professional for Help at Home, which was purchased by Missouri Mentor in 2021. Volkart was promoted to program director after Missouri Mentor purchased Help at Home.
The woman said from 2017 through 2022, she would give Volkart between $300 to $400 a month that Volkart was supposed to give to the man to use how the man wanted. The woman said after moving away from the Hillsboro area, she started sending money to Volkart by Venmo and then PayPal, the probable-cause statement said.
According to Venmo and PayPal records, Volkart receive deposits for $500 or $700 every month from January 2022 through September 2023 for the man to have spending money. She also received $715 in June 2022 to buy the man a washer; $2,000 in November 2022 to buy the man a recliner and desk; $1,000 in May 2023 for spending money and dental work; $1,000 in August 2023 for spending money and rails for a bed and toilet, the report said.
Volkart told the investigator when she received money for the man through Venmo or PayPal, she would transfer the money to her checking account, withdraw the money from a nearby ATM and put the money in the man’s personal spending ledger at his home. She also said she would purchase items for the man through Amazon and Walmart, according to the report.
However, Volkart could not provide proof that she purchased any items for the man, and she did not keep records of providing the man with money after making withdrawals or after receiving payments through Venmo or PayPal, the report said.
Others who visited the man’s home said they never saw a new washer, desk or recliner, and a Missouri Department of Mental Health investigator reported there was no desk or recliner at the home on Nov. 6, 2023, according to the report.
The probable-cause statement said between Jan. 7, 2022, through Sept. 18, 2023, Volkart spent $7,798.66 on DoorDash purchases; $756.48 in purchases from Twitch, a game streaming service; $3,187.73 on Netflix, Hulu, Peacock or other streaming service purchases; $824.05 on Uber Eats purchases; and $11,727.22 on payday loan payments.
She also transferred $9,991 through PayPal to someone who appeared to live in California during that time period. She also sent $606.10 to that person, and although there was no records of her traveling, Volkart’s bank records show a purchase of $803.01 on Feb. 22, 2022, at Knott’s Berry Farm, an amusement park in Buena Park, Calif., the report said.
The investigator also wrote that Volkart’s Amazon and Walmart.com purchase histories do not show purchases for men’s clothing, a desk, recliner or washer. There were purchases that were delivered to someone in Clovis, Calif., according to the report.
In October 2023, a woman who helped with the man’s finances was contacted by Missouri Mentor about management changes and the woman asked who she should send money to for the man. The woman was told resident funds should never be sent to employees and that there were no records of the man receiving money that had been sent to Volkart, the report said.
The Hillsboro Police were contacted that month, and Volkart was fired, according to the report.
Volkart has denied taking money from any clients. She also allegedly told the investigator the money she received for the man was “just personal money from his sister, it wasn’t anything that was state funded,” the report said.