Kenneth Nash, Health Care Fraud, Michigan 2020

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – In a shocking turn of events, Kenneth Nash, the owner of a South Haven home health agency, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for his role in a massive health care fraud scheme.

Nash pled guilty to health care fraud on October 28, 2020, admitting that his company, Universal Home Health Care, submitted claims for home health services totaling more than $750,000 when no physician had approved the services. Instead, employees forged physician signatures at Nash’s direction and with his knowledge.

The federal investigation further revealed that Universal also billed Medicare for services that were not provided and that were medically unnecessary, as some of the patients were not homebound.

Nash’s scheme came to an end in June 2018, when federal search and seizure warrants were executed, and he was forced to close the business and forfeit two Mercedes Benzes, a Land Rover, an Aston Martin, a Jaguar convertible, and a motorhome that had been purchased with proceeds from the fraud.

At the sentencing hearing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States District Judge Paul L. Maloney imposed a sentence at the high end of the sentencing guidelines, taking into account Nash’s history of prior fraud convictions, the large loss to a government program, and the need to deter other health care providers from defrauding Medicare.

‘This sentence should serve as a warning to others in the health care industry that fraudulent billing has significant consequences,’ said U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge. ‘Mr. Nash has had to give up all he gained from his scheme and now his freedom as well.’

Nash’s prison sentence is a testament to the tireless efforts of law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.

Nash was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison, three years of supervised release following imprisonment, and a restitution order of $755,628.52.

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