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DME company manager, driver sentenced for Medicare fraud scheme

Compliance Monitor, December 8, 2010

Oliver Nkuku and Callistus Edozie were sentenced to 120 months in prison and 41 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare fraud scheme, according to Departments of Justice (DOJ) press release.

According to the DOJ, Nkuku managed day-to-day operations at KO Medical Inc., a Houston-area DME company. Edozie was a delivery driver for KO.

Nkuku submitted over $1.1 million in claims to Medicare on behalf of KO for medically unnecessary DME. Nkuku billed the DME as catastrophe-related in connection with Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike and Gustav; however, many of the Medicare beneficiaries had never owned the equipment during these catastrophes. Edozie admitted to delivering the medically unnecessary equipment to Medicare beneficiaries he knew did not need the equipment.

Nkuku was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and three counts of healthcare fraud. Edozie pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of defrauding a healthcare benefit program. In addition to the prison sentence, Nkuku and Edozie will jointly pay $533,000 in restitution.

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