DALLAS - Obele Ife Chidi, of Nigeria, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Reed Connor to 30 months in federal prison

 

The United States Attorney's Office Northern District of Texas U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney James T. Jacks Northern District of Texas       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA INQUIRIES: KATHY COLVIN http://www.usdoj. gov/usao/ txn/     PHONE:             (214)659-8600         MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER SENTENCED ON HEALTH CARE FRAUD CONVICTION DALLAS - Obele Ife Chidi, of Nigeria, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Reed Connor to 30 months in federal prison following her guilty plea in February 2010 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Chidi was also ordered to pay $744,576 restitution to the Medicare program. According to documents filed in court, Chidi and her husband, Iheanyi David Nzekwe, owned a durable medical equipment supply business, Specialty Medical Supply & Health Management, Inc., formerly in Richardson, Texas. In 2003, Chidi and Nzekwe unlawfully used the identifying information of two physicians to submit more than $991,000 in false claims to Medicare, seeking reimbursement for power wheelchairs. The claims falsely reflected that these physicians had examined the patients and issued prescriptions for the wheelchairs when in fact, the patients and the physicians had never even met. In total, more than 200 fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare through Chidi’s scheme, resulting in Medicare payments of $744,576. Additionally, Chidi assumed multiple aliases and wrote checks for $11,000 and $63,000, among others, payable to her husband and herself under one alias and signed by her under another alias. These checks were issued from the Specialty Medical bank account into which fraudulently- obtained Medicare payments had been deposited. Chidi and Nzekwe left the U.S. while under investigation in late 2003. Federal agents apprehended Chidi at a Houston airport in December 2009 as she attempted to re-enter the country. The case remains pending against Nzekwe. “Any time false claims are submitted for payment, the nation’s health insurance programs suffer,” said Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the HHS Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) Dallas Regional Office. ”Our HHS OIG investigators will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify providers who deliberately manipulate the system to obtain crucial Medicare or Medicaid dollars.” U.S. Attorney Jacks praised the excellent investigative work of HHS OIG, the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Miller and Sean R. McKenna prosecuted. Nigerian-Medical- Equipment- Supplier Sentenced On Healthcare Fraud Conviction Jun 19  2010 written by Republic Report New York 57 views View Comments Nigerian Woman Sentenced on Health Care Fraud Charge in Texas A Nigerian woman, Obele Ife Chidi, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison following her entering of a guilty plea in February to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Chidi was also ordered to pay $744,576 restitution to the Medicare program. Chidi and her husband, Iheanyi David Nzekwe, owned a durable medical equipment supply business in Richardson, Texas: Specialty Medical Supply & Health Management, Inc. According to documents introduced to the court Chidi and Nzekwe unlawfully used the information of two physicians to submit over $991,000 in false claims to Medicare. These claims sought reimbursement for power wheelchairs. The claims falsely stated that the physicians examined certain patients and issued prescriptions for wheelchairs for such patients, despite the fact that the patients and the physicians never met. According to authorities, over 200 fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare through Chidi’s scheme. This resulted in Medicare payments of $744,576. Moreover, Chidi assumed various aliases and wrote checks payable to her husband and herself. The checks were issued from the Specialty Medical bank account into which the fraudulently- obtained Medicare payments had been deposited. Chidi and Nzekwe fled the U.S. while under investigation in 2003. Chidi was apprehended at a Houston airport last December attempting to re-enter the country. The case against her husband remains pending. The crime of money laundering is codified at 18 U.S.C. 1956. It is a very broad statute which makes it a crime to engage in a financial transaction with proceeds that the individual knows are derived from some unlawful activity. Douglas McNabb, Erich Ferrari and other members of the firm practice and write extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, International Extradition and OFAC litigation   New York—Republicreport—Medical Equipment Supplier is reported sentenced on Healthcare fraud conviction source told RR. In affirmation, RR reports that in Dallas, Texas, one Obele Ife Chidi, of Nigeria, was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to 30 months in federal prison following an alleged guilty plea in February 2010 to a reported lies, secrecy & conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering. This was announced by U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of Northern District of Texas. RR learned more of this report from communication posted on Government website: www.usdoj.gov/ usao/txn/ MEDIA INQUIRIES: KATHY COLVIN, PHONE:             [214]659-8600       DALLAS, TEXAS. According to impeccable Texas healthcare investigation and discovering, RR learned that: “ Obele Ife Chidi, of Nigeria, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to 30 months in federal prison following her guilty plea in February 2010 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Chidi was also ordered to pay $744,576 restitution to the Medicare program”. RR learned that, “according to documents filed in court, Chidi and her husband, Iheanyi David Nzekwe, owned a durable medical equipment supply business, Specialty Medical Supply & Health Management, Inc., formerly in Richardson, Texas. In 2003, Chidi and Nzekwe unlawfully used the identifying information of two physicians to submit more than $991,000 in false claims to Medicare, seeking reimbursement for power wheelchairs. The claims falsely reflected that these physicians had examined the patients and issued prescriptions for the wheelchairs when in fact, the patients and the physicians had never even met”, as husband and wife engaged in fraudulent activities to defraud State of Texas of its Healthcare funds. Sources told RR that, “in total, more than 200 fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare through Chidi’s scheme, resulting in Medicare payments of $744,576. Additionally, Chidi assumed multiple aliases and wrote checks for $11,000 and $63,000, among others, payable to her husband and herself under one alias and signed by her under another alias. These checks were issued from the Specialty Medical bank account into which fraudulently- obtained Medicare payments had been deposited”, many of these folks live in porch and pricey properties in United States and in Nigeria through fraudulent activities like the aforementioned above. RR learned according to impeccable source that, culprits literally fled United States still under investigations, “Chidi and Nzekwe fled the U.S. while under investigation in late 2003. Federal agents apprehended Chidi at a Houston airport in December 2009 as she attempted to re-enter the country. The case remains pending against Nzekwe”. According to HHS Office of the Inspector General’s [OIG] Dallas Regional Office, the activities of imposters and criminals destroy Healthcare system each time it gets defrauded. RR gathered that with the effectively assistance of IRS, FBI, and other U.S. intelligence community operatives this steamroller stealers were dictated. “Any time false claims are submitted for payment, the nation’s health insurance programs suffer,” said Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the HHS Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) Dallas Regional Office. ”Our HHS OIG investigators will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify providers who deliberately manipulate the system to obtain crucial Medicare or Medicaid dollars.” Republicreport gathered that U.S. Attorney Jacks has some much praise for law enforcement officers for a good job tracking crimes, “U.S. Attorney Jacks praised the excellent investigative work of HHS OIG, the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Miller and Sean R. McKenna prosecuted”. IRS, FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies have now zeroed in on Nigeria-born Medical-Health- Suppliers across the United States, Dallas, Texas in particular. ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ______ REPUBLICREPORT…standing between civilization and anarchy… Full Sentencing below: U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney James T. Jacks Northern District of Texas FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA INQUIRIES: KATHY COLVIN THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2010 http://www.usdoj. gov/usao/ txn/ PHONE:             (214)659-8600       MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER SENTENCED ON HEALTH CARE FRAUD CONVICTION DALLAS – Obele Ife Chidi, of Nigeria, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to 30 months in federal prison following her guilty plea in February 2010 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Chidi was also ordered to pay $744,576 restitution to the Medicare program. According to documents filed in court, Chidi and her husband, Iheanyi David Nzekwe, owned a durable medical equipment supply business, Specialty Medical Supply & Health Management, Inc., formerly in Richardson, Texas. In 2003, Chidi and Nzekwe unlawfully used the identifying information of two physicians to submit more than $991,000 in false claims to Medicare, seeking reimbursement for power wheelchairs. The claims falsely reflected that these physicians had examined the patients and issued prescriptions for the wheelchairs when in fact, the patients and the physicians had never even met. In total, more than 200 fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare through Chidi’s scheme, resulting in Medicare payments of $744,576. Additionally, Chidi assumed multiple aliases and wrote checks for $11,000 and $63,000, among others, payable to her husband and herself under one alias and signed by her under another alias. These checks were issued from the Specialty Medical bank account into which fraudulently- obtained Medicare payments had been deposited. Chidi and Nzekwe left the U.S. while under investigation in late 2003. Federal agents apprehended Chidi at a Houston airport in December 2009 as she attempted to re-enter the country. The case remains pending against Nzekwe. “Any time false claims are submitted for payment, the nation’s health insurance programs suffer,” said Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the HHS Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) Dallas Regional Office. ”Our HHS OIG investigators will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify providers who deliberately manipulate the system to obtain crucial Medicare or Medicaid dollars.” U.S. Attorney Jacks praised the excellent investigative work of HHS OIG, the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Miller and Sean R. McKenna prosecuted