Nigerian Man Sentenced to Prison for Role in $8.3 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme and Related Money Laundering

A Nigerian man was sentenced to 46 months in prison today for his role in a durable medical equipment (DME) scheme in which more than $8 million was fraudulently billed to Medicare for DME that was not medically necessary.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna of the Central District of California, Special Agent in Charge Timothy B. DeFrancesca of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office, Assistant Director in Charge Paul D. Delacourt of the FBI’s Los Angeles Division and Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Korner of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Los Angeles Field Office made the announcement.

Ayodeji Temitayo Fatunmbi, 47, of Nigeria, was sentenced to 46 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder of the Central District of California, who also ordered Fatunmbi to pay $1,076,893.15 in restitution. Fatunmbi pleaded guilty on May 8, 2019 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Fatunmbi was charged along with Olufunke Ibiyemi Fadojutimi, 47, of Carson, California, and Maritza Elizabeth Velasquez, 44, of Las Vegas, Nevada.

As part of his guilty plea, Fatunmbi admitted that he and others paid cash kickbacks to patient recruiters and physicians for fraudulent prescriptions for DME such as power wheelchairs, which the Medicare beneficiaries did not have a legitimate medical need. Fatunmbi and co-conspirators caused Lutemi Medical Supply (Lutemi), a DME supply company that he co-ran, to submit approximately $8.3 million in claims to Medicare, which resulted in the company being paid over $3.5 million. Fatunmbi further admitted that he was responsible for $2,090,434 in false and fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary DME and that as a result of his conduct, Medicare paid Lutemi a total of $1,076,893. In furtherance of this scheme, Fatunmbi and a co-conspirator wrote checks from Lutemi’s bank account to Lutemi employees and others, and Fatunmbi instructed that those monies be returned to him to pay the illegal cash kickbacks to the patient recruiters and doctors, he admitted. Fatummbi admittedly directed others at Lutemi to engage in these tranactions to conceal the nature and source of the proceeds of the health care fraud conspiracy.

Velasquez pleaded guilty on July 24, 2013, to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison and restitution in the amount of $3,411,428. Fadojutimi was found guilty after a jury trial on July 31, 2014, of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, seven counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering, and was sentenced to four years in prison and restitution in the amount of $4,372,466.

This case was investigated by the HHS-OIG, the FBI and IRS-CI. Trial Attorneys Claire Yan, Emily Z. Culbertson and Justin P. Givens of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. The Asset Forfeiture Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California is handling the asset forfeiture aspects of the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike forces operating in 23 districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.


https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nigerian-man-sentenced-prison-role-83-million-medicare-fraud-scheme-and-related-money

Wasnt that the Nigerian husband and wife who were pastors and recruiting people in their church for the scam?!

Pic by the left: before he started scam(fraud)
Pic by right: freshness he got from enjoyment of scam.


Now you can deduct reasons why people indulge in fraud

Crime knows no tribe and race.



Say no to tribalism

Barrywest:
Pic by the left: before he started scam(fraud)
Pic by right: freshness he got from enjoyment of scam.


Now you can deduct reasons why people indulge in fraud

i dont know about you but i see a chubby healthy person on the left, and a thin hungry stressed out one on the right

Barrywest:
Pic by the left: before he started scam(fraud)
Pic by right: freshness he got from enjoyment of scam.


Now you can deduct reasons why people indulge in fraud

Freshness indeed.

Now is has ruined his record abroad with queer guys hitting on him in jail.

1:80

Is there a way to renounce citizenship and disappear from Nigeria?

I'm asking for my landlady

So because people have been stating the fact that most of the folks FBI arrested are Igbos, someone has gone ahead to unearth cases about Yorubas. One of the cases even happened as far back as 2014.



I love dis nairaland aswear

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Afonja's are disappointed

I thought it was one of my brothers


Ekene dịrị chukwu

This is the era of do me and get the consequence at last.
We need to abstained from crime.,
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People get mind sha!!! Ordinary 3 hotel towels I "borrow" I nearly get heart attack, how do you even scam $8.3 million dollars and sleep at night!

Badt guy

Seems it's fraud week

Just take a look at his afonja cone head. Nonsense

but WHY always Nigeria??

WHY? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?


Need a private tutor to help you ace that IELTS? check my profile now!

Give him 46years instead!

Stupid people, all of them just dey vex me since morning.

Husband and wife fraudulent enterprise.

Relatively fair judgement

Seems the only news nairaland has lately is fraud this, fraud that..!! I’m tired already.. the op or mod is trying to create a tribal thread now, because this one is different from the norm ..and I hope he gets his wishes.. nonsense

Madojutimi or Fadojutimi........

No decent news since morning , it’s all about fraud , thieves , sack and so on

it is finish...we blame government for everything..yey,Nigerians go abroad to constitute nuisance in other countries with better system.

Nigerians eats, breathe and sleep corruption

Afo

Did you know that Bola Tinubu forfeited tens of thousands of dollars that were tied to drug sales in America? Today he is lauded all over the SouthWest as a statesman comparable to the great Chief Awolowo. He even wears glasses to look like Awo. Na today? The head is rotten!


Remind me again what our current Speaker, Houses of Reps was accused of.

But no, it's a madness of todays generation

Nigerian and crime this day are 5&6.
All because of Buhari and his nonsense govt.