A former Los Angeles-area pastor was sentenced to 87 months in prison for his role in a power wheelchair fraud scheme that defrauded Medicare out of more than $11 million.
Charles Agbu, 58, of Carson, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu. In addition to prison time, Agbu was ordered to pay $5,788,725 in restitution to Medicare.
Agbu pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering charges in December 2012. He admitted to paying patient recruiters and doctors to provide him with fraudulent prescriptions for expensive, highly specialized power wheelchairs and other durable medical equipment (DME).
Agbu billed the power wheelchairs to Medicare at a rate of approximately $6,000 per wheelchair, even though he paid approximately $900 wholesale per wheelchair. In many cases, the Medicare beneficiaries to whom Agbu and his co-conspirators claimed they supplied the power wheelchairs and DME did not have any legitimate medical need for the medical equipment.
At the time Agbu engaged in this fraud, he was a pastor at Pilgrim Congregational Church in South Central Los Angeles. His daughter, Obiageli Agbu, was also charged in the scheme and was convicted by a jury on nine counts of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud in July 2013.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, and the California Department of Justice. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jonathan T. Baum and Alexander Porter of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which investigated the case, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion since its inception in March 2007.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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