Medical Equipment Suppliers Convicted of Health Care Fraud | OPA

Medical Equipment Suppliers Convicted of Health Care Fraud | OPA

A federal jury convicted two men right now for partaking in a scheme to defraud Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care designs of about $3.8 million.

In accordance to courtroom documents and proof presented at demo, Ikechukwu Udeokoro, 47, of North Bergen, New Jersey, owned Meik Healthcare Machines and Offer (Meik), a long lasting health-related devices provider that was positioned in the Bronx, New York. Ayodeji Fasonu, 56, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was Meik’s manager. By way of Meik, Udeokoro and Fasonu billed Medicare Gain and Medicaid managed care designs for hundreds of costly patient aid units that ended up in no way furnished to patients or caregivers. These guidance methods incorporated big equipment that had been made to aid with lifting motionless clients and patients in nursing houses. In reality, Udeokoro and Fasonu offered clients with recliner chairs that had a seat elevate element. Amongst December 2010 and February 2014, Udeokoro and Fasonu fraudulently billed Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed treatment strategies much more than $3.8 million and were paid close to $2.4 million.

Udeokoro and Fasonu ended up equally convicted of overall health treatment fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 14 and Aug. 16, respectively, and every faces a utmost penalty of 10 yrs in prison. A federal district courtroom decide will decide any sentence immediately after looking at the U.S. Sentencing Recommendations and other statutory components.

Assistant Legal professional Typical Kenneth A. Well mannered, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Felony Division U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Prison Investigative Division Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll of the FBI New York Area Office environment and Special Agent in Demand Scott J. Lampert of the Department of Wellness and Human Providers Workplace of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Workplace of Investigations produced the announcement.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the scenario.

Trial Attorneys Andrew Estes and Patrick J. Campbell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Segment are prosecuting the situation.

The Fraud Section potential customers the Legal Division’s initiatives to beat overall health treatment fraud by way of the Health and fitness Treatment Fraud Strike Drive Plan. Because March 2007, this plan, comprised of 15 strike forces functioning in 24 federal districts, has billed far more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare plan for a lot more than $19 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, performing in conjunction with the Office environment of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are using actions to keep vendors accountable for their involvement in wellness care fraud strategies. Much more data can be discovered at https://www.justice.gov/prison-fraud/wellness-treatment-fraud-device.