A 47-year-old Nigerian living in the United States, Mr Ayodeji Fatunmbi Temitayo, has been sentenced to 46 months in prison by the U.S government, Igbere TV reports.
Igbere TV learned that Temitayo was jailed for his role in a durable medical equipment (DME) scam in which $8 million was said to have been fraudulently made in the process.
Assistant Attorney General, Brian A. Benczkowski of the FBI Criminal Division, made this known in a statement obtained by Igbere TV on Friday from U.S. Justice Department’s website.
Igbere TV gathered that Temitayo was sentenced to 46 months in prison by U.S. District Judge, Christina A. Snyder of the Central District of California, who also ordered him to pay $1,076,893.15 in restitution.
The accused had pleaded guilty on May 8, 2019 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Temitayo was charged along with 47-year-old Olufunke Ibiyemi Fadojutimi, living in California, and Maritza Elizabeth Velasquez, 44, of Las Vegas, Nevada.
As part of his guilty plea, Temitayo admitted that he and others paid cash kickbacks to patient recruiters and physicians for fraudulent prescriptions for DME, such as power wheelchairs.
“The 47-year-old and co-conspirators caused Lutemi Medical Supply (Lutemi), a DME supply company that he co-ran, to submit approximately $8.3 million in claims to Medicare, which resulted in the company being paid over $3.5 million.
“He further admitted that he was responsible for $2,090,434 in false and fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary DME and that as a result of his conduct, Medicare paid Lutemi a total of $1,076,893.
“In furtherance of this scheme, Temitayo and a co-conspirator wrote cheques from Lutemi’s bank account to Lutemi employees and others, and he instructed that those monies be returned to him to pay the illegal cash kickbacks to the patient recruiters and doctors, he admitted.
“He admittedly directed others at Lutemi to engage in these transactions to conceal the nature and source of the proceeds of the health care fraud conspiracy.” the statement partly read.
Similarly, Velasquez pleaded guilty on July 24 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison and restitution in the amount of $3,411,428.
Fadojutimi was found guilty after a jury trial on July 31 of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, seven counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering, and was sentenced to four years in prison and restitution in the amount of $4,372,466.
“This case was investigated by the HHS-OIG, the FBI and IRS-CI. Trial Attorneys Claire Yan, Emily Z. Culbertson and Justin P. Givens of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
“The Asset Forfeiture Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California is handling the asset forfeiture aspects of the case”, the statement added.
