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Louisiana DME owner and patient recruiter sentenced to prison for Medicare fraud

Compliance Monitor, January 18, 2012

A patient recruiter and a DME company owner were sentenced to federal prison for soliciting prescriptions for power wheelchairs for Medicare beneficiaries who did not qualify for the services, according to a January 12 Department of Justice press release.

U.S. District Judge James J. Brady of the Middle District of Louisiana sentenced Unique Medical Solutions owner Nnanta Ngari to five years in prison while Ernest Payne received a prison sentence of four years and seven months.

Court documents indicate Ngari submitted $4.7 million in Medicare claims between 2003 and 2009 for services federal officials said never happened. Medicare made approximately $2.5 million in payments to Ngari over the six year period. From this, Ngari paid kickbacks to Payne and others for their involvement in the scheme.

Read more on the Department of Justice website.

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