A Nigerian man, Ifeanyi Ozoh, residing in the United States, has been sentenced to six years in prison for his role in a $6 million bribery scam.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani in a statement published on the U.S. Department of Justice website on Wednesday. The scam targeted Medicaid, a U.S. insurance program, through fraudulent kickbacks.
Ozoh, 54, was convicted of conspiring to pay bribes to recruit patients insured by Medicaid to visit a sham clinic under the pretense of receiving treatment. These fake claims were then submitted to the insurance program.
In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Chief Judge Randy Crane ordered Ozoh to pay $4.9 million in restitution to Medicaid and serve three years of supervised release following his incarceration.
The statement read:
“A 54-year-old man has been sentenced following his conviction for conspiring to pay and receive health care kickbacks and payment of kickbacks to marketers, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. A federal jury deliberated for an hour following a three-day trial before finding Ifeanyi Ozoh guilty on all counts February 14.”
The court revealed that Ozoh played a key role in the scheme, bribing marketers and parents to bring Medicaid-insured children to a fake dental clinic for non-existent treatments.
This conviction highlights the serious consequences of healthcare fraud in the United States.