A 40-year-old woman from Sartell, Minnesota, has pleaded guilty to a $9 million wire fraud scheme. Adelle Starin, the owner of a business called Baby’s on Broadway, admitted in court that she used fraudulent methods to gain money from lenders and the U.S. Department of Defense’s TRICARE health program.

Starin used her business to submit fake claims to TRICARE, which provides healthcare for military families. At first, TRICARE paid some of these false claims. However, when the program started rejecting them, Starin found a new way to continue the scam.

She created a second business called Sunshine Medical LLC, which she falsely claimed was needed to buy products for her original business, Baby’s on Broadway. Starin convinced two lenders, Liquid Capital Enterprises Corp. and Slope Tech Inc., to give her money based on fake invoices from Sunshine Medical. In truth, Sunshine Medical had no real operations or revenue.

Over time, Starin successfully obtained more than $9 million in financing based on these false claims. She used wire communications to send fake invoices and continued her scheme for a significant amount of time before it was uncovered.

Starin pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on December 19, 2024, in U.S. District Court. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled soon. She now faces serious legal consequences for her actions.