Federal Jury Convicts Owner Of Healthcare Company In Multi-million Dollar Fraud Scheme
BATON ROUGE, LA - United States Attorney Walt Green announced that a federal jury returned unanimous verdicts of guilty this afternoon against AHAOMA BONIFACE OHIA, age 60, of Missouri City, Texas, on all seven counts of wire fraud charged in the indictment against him.
The verdict follows a four day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick who remanded Ohia into custody pending sentencing. As a result of his convictions, Ohia faces up to 140 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release following imprisonment, a fine up to $1.75 million, restitution to victims, and forfeiture of the proceeds of his criminal activity. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
Ohia was convicted of engaging in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud Medicare from January 2007 through February 2009 through his company, All-Star Medical Supplies. The evidence at trial established that Ohia would cause All-Star to submit claims to Medicare for durable medical equipment purportedly provided to Medicare beneficiaries, which falsely and fraudulently represented that (1) the equipment was medically necessary, (2) the equipment had been ordered for the beneficiaries by a physician, and (3) that All-Star had in fact provided the beneficiaries with the equipment reflected in the claims. In some cases, Ohia would then cause All-Star to provide the beneficiaries with equipment that was different, and far less expensive, then the equipment for which Ohia had sought reimbursement from Medicare. In other cases, All-Star did not provide any equipment at all.
U.S. Attorney Green stated: “Today’s verdict should serve as a reminder that fraudsters will find no safe haven in the Middle District of Louisiana. My appreciation to all the prosecutors and agents who handled this important matter and who will continue to be tasked with aggressively pursuing those who defraud the Medicare program.”
The case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHH-OIG), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Louisiana State Attorney General’s Office (MFCU), and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the United States Attorney’s Office and the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan A. Stevens, who serves as a Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cam Le.