Related Federal Cases
Two Houston Healthcare Owners Plead Guilty to $5.2M Medicare Fraud Scheme
Two owners of a Houston healthcare company, Clifford Ubani, 52, and Princewill Njoku, 51, have pleaded guilty to a massive $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme. The duo, who operated Family Healthcare Group, a home healthcare company, admitted to conspiring to commit healthcare fraud, paying kickbacks, and submitting false claims to Medicare.
According to court documents, Ubani and Njoku hired co-conspirators to recruit Medicare beneficiaries for the purpose of filing claims for medically unnecessary and/or not provided skilled nursing services. The pair admitted to paying kickbacks to the recruiters for their referrals.
Ubani and Njoku face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each healthcare fraud conspiracy count, five years in prison for each kickback conspiracy count, and five years in prison for each kickback count. They will be sentenced on July 19, 2011.
The guilty pleas were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno, and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force has obtained indictments of over 850 individuals who have collectively falsely billed the Medicare program for over $2.1 billion.
The Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) is working to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers. To learn more about HEAT, visit www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
RELATED: MJHS Hospice Pays $5.2M in Fraud Scheme
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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