Paul Njoku, Medicare Fraud, Texas 2023

HOUSTON – A brazen Medicare fraud scheme has landed a 64-year-old Texas man behind bars. Paul Njoku, the owner and CEO of Opnet Health Care Services Inc. doing business as P & P Health Care Services, was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

Njoku’s scheme, which spanned from 2015 to 2019, involved the submission of falsified medical records to Medicare. The jury heard testimony that Njoku, or others working at his direction, forged signatures of doctors and nurses, cutting out old signatures and taping them onto newly created doctors’ orders, nursing notes, and nursing assessments.

Medicare required home health agencies to maintain these documents to obtain payment for providing home health services. Njoku then submitted the falsified records in response to a request for records from Medicare. The scheme resulted in Opnet billing Medicare over $400,000 in claims for home health services, with the agency receiving over $360,000.

The jury also heard about a registered nurse who had departed Opnet in 2017, yet Njoku continued using her signature on nursing notes and assessments in 2018 and 2019 without her knowledge or consent. A witness also testified that Njoku bribed a doctor in exchange for approving home health services.

The defense attempted to blame another person for the fraud, but the jury did not believe those claims, finding Njoku guilty as charged. The FBI, Department of Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General, and Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christian Latham and Kathryn Olson prosecuting the case.

Njoku was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. The sentence sends a clear message that Medicare fraud will not be tolerated in Texas.

Opnet Health Care Services Inc. doing business as P & P Health Care Services was a home health care agency owned and operated by Njoku. The agency’s actions have left a trail of financial devastation for Medicare and have brought shame to the medical profession.

A U.S. District Judge has ordered Njoku to serve 75 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by two years of supervised release. The judge noted Njoku’s aggravating role in the fraud conspiracy. The case serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining integrity in the medical profession and the consequences of engaging in Medicare fraud.

Related Federal Cases