The Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has secured a prison sentence for two Houston nurses who were paying kickbacks to marketers, patients, and a physician.
Joseph Nwankwo, 59, of Houston, and Stacey Ajaja, 51, of Richmond, were previously convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and engaging in the illegal payment and receipt of healthcare kickbacks. Nwankwo was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison and Ajaja was sentenced to a 14-month term. Upon completion of their prison sentences, both individuals will serve three years of supervised release. Nwankwo is also mandated to pay $1,218,615 in restitution to Medicare, and Ajaja has been ordered to pay $238,164.
The pair, who co-owned Hefty Healthcare Services, Inc., secured patient referrals by paying illegal kickbacks to marketers and patients and then fraudulently billed Medicare for services. Nwankwo was also convicted of bribing a physician to authorize medically unnecessary home health care services.