Sartell woman pleads guilty to wire fraud; baby store scheduled to close

After pleading guilty to wire fraud, a Sartell woman has announced that her store, Baby’s on Broadway, will be closing down.

According to court documents, 40-year-old Adelle Starin pleaded guilty to engaging in a fraud scheme with her business, Baby’s on Broadway, which sold baby products and toys.

Starin reportedly submitted fraudulent claims of reimbursement to TRICARE, a health program from the U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System.

However, after TRICARE began to reject Starin’s claims, she created a company called Sunshine Medical LLC and told two lenders — Liquid Capital Enterprises Corp. and Slope Tech. Inc. — that she needed financing to buy inventory for Baby’s on Broadway from Sunshine.

Starin reportedly would create fake invoices for Sunshine Medical and send them to lenders, despite the company having no business operation or revenue. During her scheme, Starin obtained over $9 million in financing.

However, Sartin pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Dec. 19.

According to a post by Sartin on her Facebook page for Baby’s on Broadway, she announced that the store would be closing in the coming weeks but stated customer’s orders would be fulfilled before shutting down for good.