RICHMOND, Texas – A 47-year-old home health company owner has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for a $1.4 million Medicare home health fraud scheme, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Akintunde Oyewale pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud on Feb. 1, 2022. He is ordered to serve 57 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said.
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At the hearing, the court noted that Oyewale committed the crimes over a span of several years. He agreed to pay $1,467,719.92 in restitution to Medicare, a news release said. The defense requested a reduced sentence due to Oyewale’s role as a father and caretaker of his mother.
According to the release, Oyewale operated Grace Healthcare Services LLC through September 2017. At the time of his plea, he admitted to causing the company to bill Medicare for home health services that were not medically necessary and not provided, Hamdani said. He also allegedly admitted to furthering the scheme by paying medical clinics for fraudulent home health certifications and unlawfully paying for patient referrals.
Oyewale admitted he failed to produce records following the receipt of a grand jury subpoena, according to the DOJ. The records were supposed to justify the billed claims. As a result, Hamdani said Grace was subject to recoupment for failing to maintain supporting medical records for bills. Investigators said Oyewale admitted to using the fraudulently obtained funds for his “personal financial benefit” and to benefit his family members.
The Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General and FBI conducted the investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Abdul Farukhi and AUSA Christian Latham prosecuted the case.