Dallas Home Visit Fraud: 5 Plead Guilty

DALLAS, TX – The dirty business of fleecing Medicare continues to unravel in Dallas, as five individuals connected to a network of physician home visit and health care companies have admitted guilt in a sprawling health care fraud conspiracy. The guilty pleas represent a significant blow to a scheme that bilked the federal health insurance program for years.

Myrna S. Parcon, a/k/a “Merna Parcon,” 63, of Dallas, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud today, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. Parcon faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the financial gain she received or the loss inflicted on Medicare. She’ll also be permanently barred from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and all other federal health care programs. The feds are also seeking restitution.

Parcon wasn’t acting alone. Last week, Oliva A. Padilla, 57, of Garland, Texas, and Ben P. Gaines, 56, of Plano, Texas, both copped pleas to conspiracy charges, each staring down a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Earlier this year, Ransome N. Etindi, 56, of Waxahachie, Texas, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, facing a potential 10-year sentence and hefty fine. Lita S. Dejesus, 70, of Allen, Texas, joined the guilty ranks with a plea to a conspiracy count and a similar five-year maximum sentence and $250,000 fine.

The operation, spanning from approximately January 2009 to June 9, 2013, revolved around fraudulent billing for physician house calls and home health care services. Parcon owned and managed US Physician Home Visits (USPHV), located on Viceroy Drive in Dallas. USPHV provided home visits to Medicare beneficiaries, certified them for home health services, and dispensed medication. Crucially, it became a Medicare provider in May 2009 – a launchpad for the alleged fraud.

The scheme involved layering companies and concealing ownership. Noble U. Ezukanma, 57, a physician from Fort Worth, Texas, is the lone defendant still awaiting trial in January 2017 before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle. Ezukanma served as a doctor for USPHV, holding an ownership interest and providing his Medicare number for billing purposes. Etindi, also a doctor for USPHV and its medical director, did the same. Dejesus falsely presented herself as the owner of USPHV while serving as office manager. Gaines, through a straw buyer, secretly acquired A Good Homehealth (also known as “Be Good Healthcare, Inc.”) and concealed Parcon’s ownership. Parcon and Padilla then created Essence Home Health (a/k/a “Primary Angel, Inc.”) and concealed their control over all three entities from Medicare.

The three companies – USPHV, A Good Homehealth, and Essence Home Health – weren’t separate operations, but a carefully constructed illusion. Employees often worked for all three, receiving paychecks from all three. Had Medicare known the truth – that these companies shared the same beneficiaries and operated as a single entity – they wouldn’t have been approved to bill for services. This wasn’t just sloppy business; it was a calculated effort to defraud a system designed to help vulnerable patients. The investigation continues, and further indictments aren’t off the table.