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17 Nigerians arrested in US for medical fraud
By Our Reporter
Details about the US-based Nigerians indicted in Houston, Texas on fraudulent charges are now emerging over the weekend, with the release of the names of over 31 individuals, males and females accused in the medicaid fraud, Empowered Newswire reports.
Last year alone, it costed the state of Texas $17b to fund its medicaid obligations. This particular fraud is believed to have milked the state of Texas $7.7m in an investigation that lasted 6 months. Most of the evidently Nigerian names can be traced to the Riverine states of Nigeria. But there is also at least one name from the Southwestern part of Nigeria. According to the Texas Attorney-General, Greg Abbot, 17 of the over 31 indicted individuals have already been arrested, but contacts are now being made with the Nigerian government through the US embassy and consulates, to forestall suspected escape of some of the suspected criminals to Nigeria. Many US-based Nigerian professionals are concerned that such developments like this Texas Medicaid fraud continue to stain the mostly good records of Nigerians in this country. One of them, who is also a public commentator, Professor Bolaji Aluko said he expects the Nigerian government to fully cooperate with FBI authorities in bringing to justice those who might have escaped into Nigeria. Said he, “we cannot allow Nigeria to be a haven for run-away suspected/confirmed criminals - that would not be consistent with the budding “Heart of Africa” project being launched around the world by the Nigerian government.” Specifically, the suspected criminals used about 32 companies in the state to falsely make phoney medical financial and supply claims that did not exist. Throught the Medicaid system, these firms took money from the state of Texas for adult diapers, wheelchairs, and other medical supplies that were never delivered. According to the indictments, the suspects accepted reimbursements, based on billings for supplies that were never delivered to patients as was meant to be. For instance, one of the Nigerians whose arrest was prominent and recorded on video, currently available on the internet and shown around the world is Ededem Edem. He has been indicted by a Harris County(equivalent of a local government area) grand jury on Nov. 27, 2006, for second-degree felony aggregate theft by a government contractor for billing and receiving payments of over $100,000 from the Medicaid program for adult diapers that were never delivered to Medicaid recipients. If convicted, Edem and others may face a 2-20 years jail term and a fine of up to $10,000. The list of the names of the 31 suspects aslo indicated that most of them were linked with one of the 32 medical supply businesses involved in making the fraudulent and phoney medical claims. Some of such compnaies include Interstate Medical Supply, Edima Health Management Group, Essential Healthcare Clinic&Supplier, Ollie Ross Medical, Edison Medical Supply, Semeds Medical Equipment, Citizens Medical Equipment, EMCO Medical Supplies Inc., Goldnet Medical Supplies Corp, Sinex Medical Supply, all in Houston. Outside Houston, there are several other companies involved. They include Sam’s Medical Supplu in Richmond, Blue Rose and C&M Medical Equipment in Missouri City, Pinnacle Medical Supply, in Katy and Perfect Medical Equipment in Sugarland. Of all the 31 indicted suspects, 5 are females, some of which may include Non-Nigerians judging from their names. Phone calls by Empowered Newswire to the homes of several of the suspects did not produce any substantial reaction as many of the families of the suspects feigned ignorance of the news. Aluko, a university professor based in Washington D.C. described the incident as a disgrace. According to him, “First, to have so many Nigerians involved in such a scam in the Houston area is a disgrace, particularly in the aftermath of the CNN report which was vigorously protested by both the Nigerian community in the US and the Nigerian government. “ He urged Nigerians in the Diaspora to take a more proactive role as a matter of must, in order to ensure “better role modeling by its fellow citizens.” With the preponderance of names from a particular section of the country, Aluko called on US-based Nigerian ethnic and national organizations to ensur that their members with questionable wealth be put under the microscope. Prominent among the Nigerians arrested is Ededem Edem, whose photo was displayed at the press conference on Friday by the Texas Attorney-General. |
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