Patrick Adebowale Sogbein, Medicare Fraud, California 2024

Patrick Adebowale Sogbein Sentenced to 144 Months in $3.2M Medicare Fraud Scheme

SAN FRANCISCO – Patrick Adebowale Sogbein, a resident of Santa Clarita, California, was sentenced to 144 months in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag; David Johnson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in San Francisco; and Glenn R. Ferry, the Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Regional Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The sentences for Sogbein also included his convictions for conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks involving the Medicare program. This $3.2 million Medicare Fraud Scheme involved a conspiracy between Sogbein, his wife, Adebola Adefunke Adebimpe, Eduardo Abad, and others, who worked together to locate Medicare beneficiaries and write bogus prescriptions for expensive power wheelchairs for the beneficiaries.

The evidence at trial showed that Sogbein, the owner of Debs Medical Distributors, a Van Nuys, Calif., durable medical equipment company, worked with Edna Calaustro, a San Francisco physician, and street level recruiters, including Abad and Mele Saavedra, to identify Medicare beneficiaries and write fake prescriptions for expensive power wheelchairs. Sogbein and his wife, Adebimpe, submitted claims to Medicare through their respective companies, Debs Medical Distributors and Dignity Medical Supply, and were paid more than $1.6 million for over 400 fraudulent power wheelchair claims submitted to Medicare.

The scheme continued through July 2011. Sogbein paid Calaustro a $100 kickback for each power wheelchair prescription and paid Abad and Saavedra $100 and $50 kickback, respectively, for each beneficiary they identified. Adebola Adefunke Adebimpe was sentenced to 51 months in prison for her role in the scheme, while Eduardo Abad was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in prison.

The sentences were handed down today by the Honorable Jeffrey S. White, United States District Court Judge, following their convictions at trial. Judge White also sentenced the defendants to three-year terms of supervised release and ordered them to pay restitution. Sogbein was remanded into custody following his conviction at trial. Adebimpe, Abad, Calaustro, and Saavedra remain out of custody.

Patrick Adebowale Sogbein was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 26, 2012, for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 and health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347. A superseding indictment was returned on September 19, 2013, adding charges against Sogbein, Calaustro, Abad, and Saavedra for conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks involving the Medicare program, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.

Related Federal Cases