A Nigerian, Ayodeji Fatunmbi has been sentenced to 46 months in U.S prison for his role in a durable medical equipment (DME) scheme in which more than
A Nigerian, Ayodeji Fatunmbi has been sentenced to 46 months in U.S prison for his role in a durable medical equipment (DME) scheme in which more than $8 million was fraudulently billed to Medicare for DME that was not medically necessary. The 47-year-old was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder of the Central District of California, who also ordered Ayodeji Fatunmbi to pay $1,076,893.15 in restitution.
He 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. The convict was charged along with another Nigerian, Olufunke Ibiyemi Fadojutimi, 47, and Maritza Elizabeth Velasquez, 44, of Las Vegas, Nevada. As part of his guilty plea, Fatunmbi admitted that he and others paid cash kickbacks to patient recruiters and physicians for fraudulent prescriptions for DME such as power wheelchairs, which the Medicare beneficiaries did not have a legitimate medical need.
He 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. Fatunmbi 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.
