Herriman child-center owner, 4 others are indicted

Last spring the Small Wonders Child Development Center in Herriman made headlines when state health officials forced its closure due to allegations of abuse and fraud. Now five individuals, including the center's owner, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of yet more fraud.

On Wednesday the grand jury handed down a 50-count indictment against Small Wonders owner Michaele Muree Meier, 32, and four others on counts of mail, wire and bank fraud; health-care fraud; and aggravated identity theft.

Also charged in the indictment were Brandy Lee Essary, 32, Riverton; Leslie Suzanne Zimmerman, 24, West Jordan; Tanya Lee Robertson, 34, Midvale; and Jason Trevor Scharf, 33, currently incarcerated at the Utah State Prison.

At the time of the alleged crimes, Zimmerman was a business associate and Meier's sister; Essary was a business associate to Meier and Zimmerman; Robertson was a Small Wonders employee; and Scharf was also an employee and Robertson's boyfriend.

The indictment charges the five with a variety of fraud and identity theft schemes. Among them, federal prosecutors claim Meier used the identity of another person to secure funding to purchase $19,512 in playground equipment. When state officials yanked the center's license and Meier was caught running the business without a license, federal prosecutors said Meier devised a scheme to prepay her employees with checks that she later planned to claim under bankruptcy.

The fraud appears to go beyond just keeping the business afloat.

The indictment states that Scharf and Meier devised a scheme to pay for Scharf's wrist surgery. The charges state that in August 2005, Scharf went into a Salt Lake City physician's office bearing the health insurance card of another person, supplied to him by Meier. Surgery was performed in October and was billed to the ID theft victim's insurance policy. Meier also allegedly allowed her sister, Zimmerman, to use Meier's health insurance coverage through her husband to have dental work done.

Charges also state that in May 2006, Meier tried to fraudulently obtain money from a homeowners insurance policy by reporting a home burglary and claiming skis and other equipment was stolen, totaling $15,000. Prosecutors claim those items were not stolen from her home.

If convicted, Meier faces up to 30 years or more in federal prison. Other defendants face up to 20 and 30 years.