Medical Equipment Suppliers Convicted of Health Care Fraud | OPA

A federal jury convicted two adult men these days for participating in a scheme to defraud Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care options of about $3.8 million.

According to court documents and evidence offered at trial, Ikechukwu Udeokoro, 47, of North Bergen, New Jersey, owned Meik Clinical Gear and Supply (Meik), a long lasting healthcare devices supplier that was located in the Bronx, New York. Ayodeji Fasonu, 56, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was Meik’s manager. By way of Meik, Udeokoro and Fasonu billed Medicare Benefit and Medicaid managed care designs for hundreds of expensive patient help methods that ended up in no way provided to sufferers or caregivers. These aid systems bundled large products that were intended to help with lifting motionless people and sufferers in nursing properties. In reality, Udeokoro and Fasonu provided sufferers with recliner chairs that experienced a seat lift feature. Concerning December 2010 and February 2014, Udeokoro and Fasonu fraudulently billed Medicare Gain and Medicaid managed treatment options additional than $3.8 million and were paid somewhere around $2.4 million.

Udeokoro and Fasonu were both of those convicted of well being treatment fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 14 and Aug. 16, respectively, and every faces a most penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court docket choose will determine any sentence soon after contemplating the U.S. Sentencing Tips and other statutory components.

Assistant Attorney Typical Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Prison Division U.S. Legal professional Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Legal Investigative Division Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll of the FBI New York Subject Business and Exclusive Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert of the Department of Well being and Human Products and services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Workplace of Investigations manufactured the announcement.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Lawyers Andrew Estes and Patrick J. Campbell of the Felony Division’s Fraud Part are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Part potential customers the Criminal Division’s endeavours to battle health care fraud by means of the Health Care Fraud Strike Power Application. Considering the fact that March 2007, this application, comprised of 15 strike forces operating in 24 federal districts, has charged much more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for far more than $19 billion. In addition, the Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Services, functioning in conjunction with the Workplace of the Inspector Normal for the Department of Wellbeing and Human Solutions, are having steps to keep companies accountable for their involvement in wellbeing treatment fraud schemes. Additional info can be located at https://www.justice.gov/legal-fraud/wellness-treatment-fraud-unit.