Kentucky training center owner, employee indicted over scheme to defraud government

The owner of a small non-profit horse-therapy center in Louisville, Ky., has been indicted on charges of devising a scheme to defraud the government, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Clifford Wilkinson, 61, an on-and-off-again trainer on the Kentucky circuit and the founder and president of Bluegrass Training and Therapy Center, was indicted on the fraud charges along with one of his employees, Erica Bowen, 39. The two were alleged to have falsified signatures of teenagers on sign-in sheets in order to claim reimbursement through government programs available for the assistance of at-risk juveniles, according to the indictment.

Also indicted was Shannon L. Anson, 51, an employee with the Department of Juvenile Justice, who accepted bribes from Wilkinson and Bowen in order to steer payments to the therapy center, according to the indictment, which was unsealed on Feb. 15 and first reported by the Blood-Horse.

The indictment states that Wilkinson and Bowen were together responsible for the misrepresentation of 8,000 sign-ins for programs at the therapy center over two years, from August 2013 to July 2015. The amount of the fraudulent payments derived from the misrepresentations was “over $400,000,” the indictment states.

Wilkinson has started 1,036 horses over his 14-year training career, with 125 wins. His trainer’s and owner’s licenses were revoked after the indictment was unsealed. Bowen has started 123 horses with nine wins over the past decade, and her licenses have also been revoked.