WASHINGTON D.C.
A nurse who owned a medical supply company was sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles to four years in federal prison for her role in an $8.3 million Medicare fraud scheme, officials said.
A jury convicted Olufunke Ibiyemi Fadojutimi, 43, of Carson, California, on July 31, 2014, of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, seven counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering, officials said.
U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder also ordered Fadojutimi was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4.3 million with a co-defendant, according to authorities.
During trial, officials stated that the evidence showed that Fadojutimi, a registered nurse and the former owner of Lutemi Medical Supply, fraudulently billed Medicare for more than $8 million of durable medical equipment that was not medically necessary.
The evidence indicated that between September 2003 and May 2010, Fadojutimi and others paid cash kickbacks to patient recruiters in exchange for patient referrals, and additional kickbacks to physicians for fraudulent prescriptions for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, such as power wheelchairs, officials said.
Fadojutimi and others then used these prescriptions to support fraudulent claims to Medicare.
Fadojutimi and others submitted approximately $8.3 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, and received almost $4.3 million on those claims.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,100 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6.5 billion, officials stated.