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A 57-year-old Nigerian man, Ezechukwu Joshua Ohaka, has been indicted by a federal grand jury and declared wanted in the United States for alleged involvement in a $1.08 million Medicare fraud scheme.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General, Ohaka, along with co-conspirators, allegedly submitted more than $3.1 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for durable medical equipment (DME).
The gross proceeds of the fraud allegedly totaled approximately $1.08 million, the indictment stated.
Through his Houston-based company, Luant & Odera, Inc., Ohaka and others allegedly billed for medically unnecessary power wheelchairs, motorized scooters and wheelchair accessories that were either not medically necessary or were not provided.
In some instances, the suspects allegedly billed Medicare for more expensive wheelchairs than they provided to beneficiaries.
Investigators said the beneficiaries who received the scooters and wheelchairs had either not been to a doctor, did not have a prescription as required by Medicare, or did not meet medical necessity requirements.
Falsely referring to himself as a doctor, “Dr. Joshua Ohaka”, the suspect and co-conspirators allegedly targeted Medicare beneficiaries who were living in the paths of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Ohaka, originally from Nigeria, allegedly paid kickbacks to individuals to recruit Medicare beneficiaries so that Luant could file bogus claims with Medicare for DME.
The HHS OIG lists Ohaka on its fugitive list as wanted, with an arrest warrant outstanding following the federal indictment.
