Crime & Safety

St. Peters Patient Billing Supervisor Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

Pamela Hoernschemeyer, 46, of St. Peters, pled guilty three felony counts of bank fraud before United States District Judge Carol E. Jackson and will be sentenced Dec. 27.

A St. Peters woman pled guilty to three felony counts of bank fraud involving her fraud as an insurance billing supervisor handling the SSM Health Care account. 

Pamela Hoernschemeyer, 46, of St. Peters, pled guilty before United States District Judge Carol E. Jackson and will be sentenced Dec. 27. Each of the three counts of bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and/or fines up to $1 million.

According to court documents, Hoernschemeyer on multiple occasions submitted fraudulent check request forms to SSM requesting that SSM issue a refund check to a purported patient. The patients never existed—all of the purported patients were variations of Hoernschemeyer’s own name, as well as variations of both her husband and daughter’s names.

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Because of the fraudulent requests, SSM issued checks to Hoernschemeyer's aliases. Court documents report Hoernschemeyer deposited the checks into several different personal accounts. Through her fraudulent conduct, she obtained in excess of $100,000 which she used for personal purchases and spending.        

Following her indictment, Hoernschemeyer submitted false and forged documents to the Court, falsely representing that her current employer was aware of the pending bank fraud charges as required by the Court’s bond conditions. Her bond was revoked and she remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshal.        

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SSM Health Care (SSM) is a health care organization, sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, which operates hospitals, nursing homes and physician practices in four Midwestern States.  Lackland Acquisition II, LLC, doing business as Healthcare Strategic Initiatives (HSI) was Hoernschemeyer's employer and was operating as Nextgen Healthcare contracted with SSM for patient billing and collections, claims submissions, remittance and payment posting, and account management. 

The Postal Inspection Service investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  


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