Four Houston based individuals were sentenced to federal prison this week as part of the ongoing investigation into the Family Healthcare Group Medicare Fraud scam.
Mary Ellis and Caroline Njoku, who are both nurses aged 56 and 46 respectively, were sentenced to over five years in federal prison, as well as fines of over $400,000. Terrie Porter, who is 48, and Florida Holiday Island, who is 62, received 2 years in prison and 20 days in prison respectively, as well as both being responsible for a fine.
Ellis, who was convicted of three counts of receiving illegal kickbacks, conspiracy to pay kickbacks, and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, will need to serve an additional 3 years of probation after she completes her sentence.
Caroline Njoku, who was convicted of conspiracy to pay kickbacks and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, will need to serve a single year of probation after release, but was fined almost $650,000.
Porter, who was fined almost $500,000 will serve two years of probation after release. Island, who was only given 20 days in prison, was fined around $60,000 and must serve five months of house arrest, as well as 2.5 years of probation. She was convicted of receiving illegal kickbacks and conspiracy to receive kickbacks.
According to court records, Family Healthcare Group, which is a skilled nursing provider in Houston Texas, provided kickbacks to the defendants for providing Medicare account information of patients, who were then billed for nursing services that were not preformed or not required for medical reasons. The defendants allegedly submitted bills to Medicare and prescribed patient treatment plans that stated the Medicare recipients were in need of special in-home nursing assistance.
Both Njoku and Ellis, as indicated by evidence submitted during their trial, were responsible for falsifying the treatment plans.
In total around $5 Million in fraudulent billing is attributed to this fraud. In addition to the defendants above, two other defendants, including another nurse, have already been sentenced, with four additional defendants scheduled for trial.
About Family Healthcare Group
According to public records, Family Healthcare Group, INC. was registered in 2004 in Houston Texas. As of February 18, 2012 public records indicate they have not satisfied state franchise tax requirements and, as a result, is not in good standing with the State.
Both the director and chief executive are listed as Princewill Njoku, who it would stand to reason is related to Caroline Njoku, the nurse convicted in this case.