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Las Vegas Woman Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud
A Las Vegas woman was caught up in a massive Medicare fraud scheme that led to the submission of over $3.5 million in false claims, prosecutors said.
Jummal Joy Ibrahim, 55, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to falsely representing to Medicare that she owned a Los Angeles-area durable medical equipment (DME) company called Contempo Inc., dba Contempo Medical Supplies. In reality, the company was owned and operated by her brother, Christopher Iruke.
According to court documents, Iruke told Ibrahim that Medicare would not accredit his DME company, Pascon Medical Supply, and as a result, he had to close it down. Iruke then asked Ibrahim if he could use her name, Social Security number, and driver’s license to open Contempo.
Ibrahim agreed to serve as the straw owner of Contempo, even though she knew nothing about the DME business and did not intend to have any role in the operation of Contempo or share in its profits. Ibrahim sent Iruke a copy of her Social Security card and driver’s license, signed articles of incorporation and other documents necessary to the formation of Contempo, and allowed Iruke and others to use her identity to obtain a Medicare provider number for Contempo, which Iruke then used to submit false claims to Medicare.
The scheme allowed Iruke and others to conceal Iruke’s ownership and control of Contempo and submit approximately $3.5 million in false power wheelchair and DME claims to Medicare. Medicare reimbursed Contempo approximately $1.7 million on these false claims.
Ibrahim faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing, scheduled for June 13, 2011. Iruke was indicted in October 2009 on health care fraud charges and his trial is scheduled to begin on May 3, 2011.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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