A Brentwood doctor who once served as a leader at the late Gwen Shamblin Lara's Weigh Down Ministries and Remnant Fellowship Church bought a $7 million home while illegally taking millions of dollars from TennCare and Medicare, court records show.
Dr. Helen Boerman, 48, pleaded guilty in May to submitting about $11 million in false claims from 2021 through 2024 through her Brentwood Eye Care business to TennCare, Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The optometrist, who specialized in treating dry eye conditions, received $6.9 million in reimbursements before the fraud was detected, said U.S. Attorney Braden H. Boucek, with the Middle District of Tennessee.
During Boerman's Sept. 10 sentencing hearing in federal court in Nashville, several members of Remnant Fellowship supported her in the audience. The Brentwood church gained global attention as the subject of the HBO documentary "The Way Down," focused on founder Shamblin Lara's Weigh Down Workshop diet program. It emphasized weight loss as a way to prove commitment to God.
Boerman and her husband joined the church in 2002...
Dr. Helen Boerman, once a leader at Remnant Fellowship Church, used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a $7 million home, prosecutors said. She was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison an...