Lafayette woman arrested following forgery in federal grant scheme

LAFAYETTE, LA. (KLFY) — Lafayette woman arrested by the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation (LBI) following an incident involving a forged letter which tried to secure funds from a federal grant program, officials said.

LBI agents arrested Rachel Willis, 48, of Lafayette and charged her with one count of forgery, officials said.

The investigation began after Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) officials received notification that an employee of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Hospital in Lafayette had allegedly submitted a forged letter in an attempt to help secure funds from a federal grant program, administered by LDH, known as the H.E.R.O. Fund. The Health Care Employment Reinvestment Opportunity (H.E.R.O.) Fund is a grant program established by the Louisiana Department of Health to support healthcare training and education programs.

Later on it was learned Willis, while employed as a Patient Access Representative at Our Lady of Lourdes (OLOL) in Lafayette and a member hospital of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (FMOLHS), allegedly created and transmitted a forged letter purporting to be from the Chief Executive Officer of FMOLHS.

The letter committed OLOL to provide $250,010.40 in matching funds in support of a HERO grant application, submitted to LDH, on behalf of OLOL and a local Technical College in Lafayette, officials said. Agents learned Willis allegedly had accessed the CEO’s signature from her FMOLHS email account, copied it, and pasted it onto the FMOLHS letterhead without authorization.

Although the letter was discovered prior to the release of any funds, the inclusion of this forged letter significantly enhanced the appearance of financial participation and institutional backing. The grant was preliminarily approved for nearly $600,000, suggesting that the document materially contributed to potential awarding of the grant, officials said.

Willis was booked without incident at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Her bond was reportedly set at $2,500.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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