A Destrehan man has pleaded guilty in a $50 million medical clinic-accountant Medicare fraud scheme exposed by a federal Medicare Fraud Strike Force.
Christopher White, 48, of Destrehan and Paige Okpalobi, 58, of Slidell, both pleaded guilty before before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance of the Eastern District of Louisiana to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to falsify records in a federal investigation. Sentencing hearings for each are scheduled for July 1, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The owner and operator of a New Orleans-based medical clinic and an accountant pleaded guilty March 18 in federal court in New Orleans for their roles in a $50 million Medicare fraud scheme.
According to his plea agreement, White managed financial and accounting services at Okpalobi’s companies and other companies.
White admitted he coordinated the payment of patient recruiters who illegally sold Medicare beneficiary information to Okpalobi and her co-conspirators.
This information was used by home health companies operated by Okpalobi and others to bill Medicare for home health care services that were not medically necessary and often not delivered at all.
According to her plea agreement, Okpalobi owned and operated a New Orleans-based medical clinic that employed doctors to certify that Medicare beneficiaries were qualified to receive home health care.
Okpalobi admitted doctors employed at her clinic falsely certified that certain of their clients—specifically, Medicare beneficiaries – were homebound and in need of home health care services.
Okpalobi further admitted that she and other co-conspirators then used the false certifications to bill Medicare for fraudulent home health care services through home health care companies she jointly operated with another co-conspirator.
Okpalobi and White each also admitted that they fabricated tax and employment records in response to a federal grand jury subpoena to conceal the illegal kickbacks paid and mislead the grand jury.
Okpalobi also admitted that, between 2007 and 2014, she caused the submission of nearly $50 million in claims to Medicare for home health services that were not medically necessary or not provided.
Thirteen individuals have been indicted in connection with this Medicare fraud scheme, and eight have now pleaded guilty, including two doctors employed at Okpalobi’s medical clinic.
This case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and the Louisiana AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys William Kanellis and Antonio Pozos and Assistant Chief Benton Curtis of the Fraud Section.
Established in March 2007, the Strike Force is a collaborative effort involving the U.S. government organizations.
As of Dec. 31, 2014, HHS reported Strike Force statistics that included 1,227 criminal actions, 1,773 indictments and $1.5 billion recovered in tax dollars.
Be the first to comment