HOUSTON – Seven people from the Houston area have been charged in a superseding indictment tied to an alleged Medicare fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said.
Authorities arrested Hattie Banks, 49, of Humble; Lydia Obere, 59, and Cheryl Brooks, 64, both of Houston; and Ena Cowart, 50, of Missouri City. They join Dera Ogudo, 40, and Victoria Martinez, 36, both of Richmond, and Evelyn Shaw, 52, of Houston, who were arrested earlier.
According to a 43-count superseding indictment returned Oct. 5, the seven are accused of conspiring to bill Medicare and Medicaid for more than $110 million in hospice services for patients who weren’t actually terminally ill. Prosecutors say Ogudo and Martinez ran a business called United Palliative & Hospice Company (UPHC) that misled elderly patients and their families about the care being billed to the government.
Court papers say UPHC marketers told beneficiaries they qualified for hospice care even when they did not. The indictment alleges Ogudo paid kickbacks to people who helped enroll patients — including group homeowners and others — and paid Shaw, a hospital discharge coordinator, for referrals. It also accuses Ogudo of bribing a doctor to falsely certify and re-certify patients as terminally ill.
After agents searched UPHC, the indictment says Ogudo and Martinez opened new companies — Residential Hospice and Cedar Hospice — under straw owners to keep the alleged scheme going. Prosecutors claim they then laundered Medicare payments through accounts controlled by Martinez and others to hide Ogudo’s role.
The charges include conspiracy to commit health care fraud, multiple counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Ogudo also faces 14 counts related to monetary transactions involving criminal proceeds; she and Martinez face an additional count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Many of the counts carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison; the money-laundering conspiracy can bring up to 20 years. Each conviction also carries a possible fine of up to $250,000.
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