WASHINGTON—A federal jury convicted two men for engaging in a scheme to defraud Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care plans of more than $3.8 million on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Ikechukwu Udeokoro, 47, of North Bergen, New Jersey, owned Meik Medical Equipment and Supply (Meik), a durable medical equipment supplier located in the Bronx, New York. Ayodeji Fasonu, 56, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was Meik’s manager. Through Meik, Udeokoro and Fasonu billed Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care plans for hundreds of expensive patient support systems which were never provided to patients or caregivers.
These support systems included large devices designed to assist with lifting immobile patients and patients in nursing homes. However, Udeokoro and Fasonu provided patients with recliner chairs that had a seat lift feature. Between December 2010 and February 2014, Udeokoro and Fasonu fraudulently billed Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Care plans for more than $3.8 million and were paid approximately $2.4 million.
Udeokoro and Fasonu were both convicted of health care fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, Aug. 14 and Wednesday, Aug. 16, respectively. Each faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The FBI and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services investigated the case.
