Anthony Christoper, the former owner of a Bentonville-based pediatric therapy clinic, is currently out on bail facing three counts of felony Identity Fraud and one count of Felony Medicaid Fraud.
Christopher was also able to manipulate the courts and wrangle a $3 million -plus judgement in a slander lawsuit against the Benton County housewife that blew the whistle on his wrongdoing in addition to humiliating and terrorizing the woman over the past year-and-a-half with a bogus lawsuit, threats and intimidation.
While everything the whistle blower alleged is now playing out in the court system and he chickens are coming to roost, Today in Fort Smith has learned that this incident isn't the first time Anthony has been accused of fraud, indicating a pattern of unethical behavior and questionable business practices.
(Today in Fort Smith has reached out to the plaintiff in the case as well as her attorney, Thomas Stockland of Fayetteville, for comments. The plaintiff declined comment and Stockland said due to the conditions of the settlement in the case he could not comment on the monetary settlement. However, the plaintiff was "made whole" in the case according to a source.)
In March of 2018, a woman who lived in Fayetteville but later moved to Tulsa filed a lawsuit against Anthony Christopher claiming he leveraged their friendship to gain control of a portion of her finances, mainly money she had received in a divorce settlement.
The court records reflect:
The lawsuit was filed on five separate and different counts:
On April 19, 2018 the court granted a partial dismissal of Count 1 without prejudice based upon a request from the plaintiff's attorney.
Christopher and his attorney attempted legal wrangling for approximately eight months, including motions to dismiss. They also missed a deadline for turning over information for discovery and at one point tried to convince the plaintiff to stay the lawsuit and settle the matter in mediation after the deadline had passed for that option.
After the parties reached an out of court settlement that "made the plaintiff whole", the case was dismissed by the Honorable John Threet, Circuit County Judge, on November 19, 2018.
The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again.
It's interesting to note that Christopher's lawsuit for slander against the whistle blower was filed in October of 2018 in the midst of him reaching a settlement for fraud with the plaintiff in the case based upon the exposure of similar unethical business practices.
That represents a pattern of behavior consistent with the information provided by the whistle blower, who is currently appealing the $3.4 million judgement for slander that forced her into bankruptcy. She is basing that appeal on the fact that Christopher, indeed, was being investigated for Medicaid fraud and has since had an arrangement in that case and faces a court date in the Fall.
To be continued....