Angelita Newton, Home Health Care Fraud, Illinois 2022

State: Illinois
Category: Fraud &#038; Financial Crimes
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/chicago-woman-sentenced-56-months-home-health-care-fraud" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A 56-month prison sentence was handed down to Angelita Newton, 43, of Chicago, after she was convicted of participating in a conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud.

Between 2011 and 2017, Newton worked at Care Specialists, a home health care company owned by Ferdinand Echavia and later his wife, Ma Luisa Echavia. During that time, the company fraudulently billed Medicare at least $6.3 million.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, it was found that approximately 90% of the patients did not meet the qualifications for the types of care billed to Medicare. Additionally, many patients received cash bribes to receive home health "visits," some of which were performed in the visiting nurse’s car.

Newton was convicted by a federal jury on February 14, 2020, for her role in falsifying patient visit records that were used to support claims billed to Medicare.

Judge Virginia Kendall also previously sentenced three others involved in the conspiracy. Ferdinand Echavia was sentenced to 84 months’ confinement and three years’ supervised release on October 21, 2021. Ma Luisa Echavia was sentenced to 60 months’ confinement and three years’ supervised release on November 5, 2021. Reginald Onate, who pleaded guilty and cooperated with the government throughout the investigation, was sentenced to three years’ probation.

The FBI Chicago Field Office and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) investigated the case. Trial Attorney Leslie S. Garthwaite of the Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Mott prosecuted the case.

Newton is required to pay $6.3 million in restitution as part of her sentence.

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