A Missouri legislator is scheduled to head to federal court today (Monday) on several fraud charges.
The trial for Nixa Republican State Representative Tricia Derges begins Monday at a federal courthouse in southwest Missouri’s Springfield. Derges has been charged with 23 felony counts in two separate alleged fraud schemes connected to the medical and dental clinics she operates in Springfield, Branson, and Ozark. Charges accuse Derges of selling fake stem cell treatments at her clinics – a scheme totaling about $200,000. Other charges allege that she fraudulently received about $300,000 in federal coronavirus aid.
She has maintained her innocence and refuses to resign.
Jury selection is expected to take up the bulk of Monday’s work. The trial is scheduled to last two weeks.
