Houston Man, Delivery Driver Get Prison Time for Roles in Medicare Fraud Scheme
Houston residents Oliver Nkuku and Callistus Edozie have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a Medicare fraud scheme, according to a recent announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Nkuku, the manager of KO Medical Inc., a Houston-area durable medical equipment (DME) company, was sentenced to 120 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $453,112 in restitution jointly and severally with Edozie.
Edozie, a delivery driver for KO, was sentenced to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution jointly and severely with Nkuku.
According to court documents, Nkuku and Edozie were involved in a scheme to bill Medicare for fraudulent DME, including power wheelchairs, that were medically unnecessary. The scheme, which began in 2007, resulted in over $1.1 million in claims being submitted to Medicare.
Nkuku was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud, while Edozie pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of defrauding a health care benefit program.
The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jennifer L. Saulino and Deputy Chief Kathleen McGovern of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, and MFCU, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force has obtained indictments of more than 825 individuals who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for more than $2 billion since its inception in March 2007. To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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