[00:00.0 - 00:04.8] Two Dallas doctors and three nurses were sentenced yesterday in an $11.3 million [00:04.8 - 00:09.4] Medicare fraud scheme involving false and fraudulent claims for home health services. [00:10.4 - 00:15.5] Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benskowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, [00:15.5 - 00:21.4] U.S.
Attorney Aaron Neely Cox of the Northern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge CJ [00:21.4 - 00:26.2] Porter of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector Generals, [00:26.2 - 00:33.4] HHS-OIG, Dallas Region, Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson of the FBI's Dallas Field Office, [00:33.4 - 00:38.2] and Director of Law Enforcement David Maxwell of the Texas Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud [00:38.2 - 00:45.9] Control Unit, MFCU, made the announcement Patience Okoroji, 60, of Dallas County, Texas, [00:45.9 - 00:51.6] was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor of the Northern District of Texas to serve 120 [00:51.6 - 00:56.9] months in prison for her role in the fraudulent scheme as a part owner of Timely Home Health [00:56.9 - 01:05.6] Services, Inc., Timely, and a licensed vocational nurse, LVN.
Kelly Robinette, MD, 69, of Denton [01:05.6 - 01:10.5] County, Texas, who is a former part owner and supervising physician at Boomer House Calls, [01:10.5 - 01:17.9] Boomer, of Frisco, Texas, was sentenced to serve 42 months in prison. Joy Ogwegbu, 42, of Collin [01:17.9 - 01:24.2] County, Texas, the former director of nursing at Timely, was sentenced to serve 42 months in prison, [01:24.2 - 01:31.8] and Kingsley Nwanguma, 48, of Dallas County, in LVN at Timely, was sentenced to serve 42 months [01:31.8 - 01:39.4] in prison. Angel Claudio, MD, 61, of Hidalgo County, was sentenced to serve six months in prison.
[01:39.4 - 01:45.6] On June 22nd, following a five-day trial before Judge O'Connor, Robinette and Nwanguma were each [01:45.6 - 01:50.4] convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition, Robinette and [01:50.4 - 01:55.8] Nwanguma were each convicted of three counts of health care fraud, and Ogwegbu was convicted of [01:55.8 - 02:03.7] four counts of health care fraud. Claudio Okoroji, Usani Iwa, 60, of Dallas County, a part owner of [02:03.7 - 02:10.6] Timely and a registered nurse, RN, and Sean Chamberlain, 49, of Collin County, a part owner [02:10.6 - 02:17.1] of Boomer and a physician's assistant, all pleaded guilty.
Chamberlain and Iwa are awaiting sentencing. [02:17.1 - 02:25.1] According to evidence presented at trial from 2007 through 2015, Okoroji, Iwa, Nwanguma, Ogwegbu, [02:25.1 - 02:30.4] Claudio, Robinette, and Chamberlain engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting and [02:30.4 - 02:36.0] causing the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare through Timely, a home health [02:36.0 - 02:42.5] agency, and Boomer, a physician house call company. The evidence presented at trial showed that [02:42.5 - 02:48.9] Robinette, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, certified Medicare beneficiaries whom he had [02:48.9 - 02:55.0] never seen and did not care to see for medically unnecessary home health services that were often [02:55.0 - 03:01.8] not provided.
The evidence further established that Ogwegbu, a registered nurse, falsified [03:01.8 - 03:09.0] nursing assessments and Nwanguma, a licensed vocational nurse, falsified nursing notes to make [03:09.0 - 03:14.0] it appear as if Medicare beneficiaries were qualified for and were provided skilled nursing [03:14.0 - 03:21.1] services. Evidence at trial demonstrated that Timely billed Medicare for over $11.3 million [03:21.1 - 03:26.7] for home health services purportedly provided to Timely's patients, some of which was attributable [03:26.7 - 03:32.2] to certifications Robinette signed. Court documents also show that Robinette's company, [03:32.2 - 03:38.6] Boomer, billed Medicare over $1.6 million for medically unnecessary home health certifications [03:38.6 - 03:46.6] and services and physicians' home visits.
This case was investigated by the HHS-OIG, FBI, and MFCU. [03:47.4 - 03:53.0] Assistant Deputy Chief Adrienne Frazier and trial attorneys Eleza Ramiz and Christina [03:53.3 - 03:58.3] of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. The Fraud Section leads [03:58.3 - 04:03.2] the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of [04:03.2 - 04:09.6] Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud [04:09.6 - 04:17.0] laws around the country.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, [04:17.0 - 04:22.6] now operating in 12 cities across the country, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants [04:22.7 - 04:27.4] who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion source. [04:28.0 - 04:35.8] OIG-AHS-GEOV. Provided by Axis Cloud Sync.
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