California's DWC Suspends Nine
Medical Providers for Fraud
The Division of Workers’
Compensation (DWC) has suspended nine more medical providers from participating
in California’s workers’ compensation system, bringing the total number of
providers suspended this year to 94. The providers were suspended for fraud or
other criminal actions.
DWC Administrative Director
George Parisotto issued
suspension orders against the following providers:
·
Sathish
Narayanappa Babu of Bolingbrook, Illinois, physician, was convicted on federal
charges of Medicare fraud and of fraudulently obtaining controlled substances
in February 2015. The Medical Board of California has revoked his medical
license.
·
Uche
Chukwudi of Gardena, physician, was indicted in 2013 in federal court on felony
conspiracy and health care fraud charges for defrauding Medicare in a scheme
involving durable medical equipment (DME) provider Adeline Ekwebelem, Uche
Chukwudi, Charles Okoye and others. He failed to appear at pre-trial
proceedings and was declared a fugitive. The Medical
Board of California revoked his license in 2017.
·
Charles
Ikechukwu Okoye of Carson, physician, was convicted in federal court for
conspiracy to commit health care fraud for defrauding Medicare in a scheme
involving DME provider Adeline Ekwebelem, Uche Chukwudi and others in 2014.
Okoye surrendered his physician’s and surgeon’s certificate in 2015.
·
Adeline
Ekwebelem of Gardena, DME provider who worked with Uche Chukwudi, Charles Okoye
and others, was convicted in federal court on multiple counts of health care
fraud, conspiracy and illegal kickbacks for patient referrals in 2014.
·
Victoria Kim
of Los Angeles, physician, pled guilty in federal court on a felony charge of
receiving illegal kickbacks for home health care referrals. The Medical Board
of California revoked her medical license in 2016.
·
Daria Renee
Million of Corona, registered nurse, pled guilty in Riverside County in May
2015 to DUI and in December 2015 to misdemeanor child endangerment. The
California Board of Registered Nursing revoked her license in 2016.
·
The
following providers participated in an illegal kickback scheme to issue
medically-unnecessary DME prescriptions to Medicare patients:
o
Victoria
Onyeabor of Ontario, DME provider and former owner of Fendih Medical Supplies
Inc., was convicted in federal court for conspiracy to commit health care fraud
in 2012 for submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.
o
Godwin
Onyeabor of Ontario, DME provider and corporate officer of Fendih Medical
Supplies Inc., was convicted in federal court in 2013 for conspiracy to commit
health care fraud, health care fraud, and conspiracy to pay and receive health
care kickbacks.
o
Sri
Jayantha Wijegunaratne of Anaheim Hills, physician, was convicted in federal
court in 2013 for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud,
and conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks. His medical license
was revoked in 2016.
AB 1244, which went into
effect January 1, requires DWC’s Administrative Director to suspend any medical
provider, physician or practitioner from participating in the workers’
compensation system in cases in which one or more of the following is true:
- The provider has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving fraud or abuse of the Medi-Cal or Medicare programs or the workers’ compensation system, fraud or abuse of a patient, or related types of misconduct;
- The provider has been suspended due to fraud or abuse from the Medicare or Medicaid (including Medi-Cal) programs; or
- The provider’s license or certificate to provide health care has been surrendered or revoked.
The Department of Industrial
Relation’s (DIR’s) fraud
prevention efforts are posted online, including frequently
updated lists for physicians, practitioners, and providers who have been issued
notices
of suspension, and those who have been suspended
pursuant to Labor Code §139.21(a)(1). The department recently
added a new web page with information on lien
consolidations and the Special Adjudication Unit.
===============
OIG Fugitive: Uche Chukwudi
(Office of Inspector General—US Dept of Health & Human Services)- On December 19, 2013, Dr. Uche Chukwudi was indicted on charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Investigators believe that Dr. Chukwudi was involved in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare approximately $7.3 million for durable medical equipment (DME) that was never provided and was medically unnecessary.
- Co-conspirator Adeline Ekwebelem owned Adelco Medical Distributors, a DME supplier in Gardena, California. According to the indictment, Ekwebelem paid marketers to solicit Medicare beneficiaries and offer them free DME, such as power wheelchairs, hospital beds, and orthotics, that they did not need. In return for the free products, the beneficiaries agreed to visit certain physicians, including Dr. Chukwudi, who would then use their beneficiary information to create false patient files and false statements in “face-to-face examination” forms. Dr. Chukwudi and other physicians then wrote prescriptions for the DME to be filled at Adelco.
- Dr. Chukwudi referred more than 200 Medicare beneficiaries to Adelco for expensive, medically unnecessary DME, which enabled Ekwebelem to falsely bill Medicare for approximately $1.18 million. Dr. Chukwudi allegedly received cash kickbacks in return for writing the fraudulent prescriptions.
- Ekwebelem was convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, and paying kickbacks for the recruitment of Medicare beneficiaries. Dr. Charles Okoye, a physician who referred more than 200 beneficiaries to Adelco, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Both are awaiting sentencing. Patient recruiters Cindy Santana, Maritza Hernandez, and Romie Tucker, Jr., each pleaded guilty to illegal remunerations for health care referrals. Hernandez received 9 months in jail, while Santana and Tucker are awaiting sentencing.
- Dr. Chukwudi fled the United States prior to his trial in September 2014. His whereabouts are currently unknown, and he remains a fugitive at-large.
Adeline Ekwebelem, 51, was convicted following a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, who set a Dec. 15 sentencing hearing in federal court.
Ekwebelem was found guilty of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud, a dozen counts of health-care fraud and three counts of paying illegal kickbacks for health-care referrals, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
She is the fifth person convicted in relation to the scheme run out of her Gardena-based Adelco Medical Distributors Inc.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that Adelco billed Medicare for medically unnecessary equipment for beneficiaries who were often recruited off the street.
Ekwebelem paid illegal kickbacks to people known as marketers to recruit those beneficiaries. She also paid kickbacks to a handful of complicit doctors in exchange for fraudulent prescriptions for the wheelchairs.
Those doctors included Dr. Charles Okoye, who pleaded guilty last month, and Dr. Uche Chukwudi, who fled after being indicted and is a fugitive, prosecutors said.
Three of Adelco’s marketers — Romie Tucker, Cindy Santana and Maritza Hernandez — have also pleaded guilty to receiving kickbacks from Ekwebelem.
Ekwebelem submitted more than $7 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and received nearly $3.5 million for those claims. (LINK) — 9/19/2014