NIGERIAN COURT EXTRADITES GODWIN NZEOCHA TO USA TO FACE $30M HEALTHCARE FRAUD : NO WHERE TO HIDE IN NIGERIA IF YOU COMMIT & FLEE

Court Extradites Nigerian To US Over $30m Health Fraud he committed and Fled to Nigeria






Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on Monday granted the request of the Attorney General of the Federation that Godwin Chiedo Nzeocha be extradited to the United States of America to face criminal charges over alleged Health Care Benefit Fund fraud involving $30 million.

Nzeocha, 54, worked with the City Nursing Services in Houston, Texas, USA as a Physical Therapist Aide between 2007 and 2009.

While there, he was alleged to have conspired with others and submitted claims worth $45 million to the Medicare and Medicaid for health care services on behalf of some patients who are beneficiaries of the health insurance claims.

Nzeocha and his accomplices were paid $30 million, but failed to remit the funds to the beneficiaries.

Consequently, he was dragged before a United States District Court in the Southern District of Texas, Houston by the United States Department of Justice on 19 October, 2009 for offences bordering on conspiracy to commit health care fraud, money laundering and mail fraud.

Rather than face his trial, Nzeocha fled to Nigeria.

Click here to see his case in USA :

http://www.namfcu.net/resources/medicaid-fraud-reports-newsletters/2010-publications/10JanFeb.pdf

In his ruling, Justice Tsoho agreed with the prosecution that the extradition application was competent and that alleged offences which are the basis of the extradition request are returnable offences.

He therefore ruled that the accused be extradited to United States of America to face trial within a period of one month.

Nzeocha was arrested in June 2011 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, following a petition from the Legal Attaché to the United States Consular Office, Lagos, on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI.

Part of the extradition charges read: Count 1: Conspiracy to commit health care fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, carrying penalty on conviction of a fine of up to $250,000, or imprisonment of not more than ten years, or both; supervised released of not more than three years; and a special assessment of $100,000 for each convicted offence.

Count 2: Indictment with health care fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347, carrying penalty on conviction of a fine of up to $250,000, or imprisonment of ten years, or both; supervised released of not more than three years; and a special assessment of $100,000 for each convicted offence.

THE FRAUD STORY IN HOUSTON , TEXAS, USA

In far away United States, he had defrauded the Health Care Benefit Fund to the tune of $30 million and fled to Nigeria in November 2009. On June 5, 2011, he was enjoying the cool afternoon breeze inside his newly built mansion at the outskirts of Owerri, Imo State, unaware that a security ring had been thrown around the area for the past two weeks. Operatives of the EFCC later swooped on the house and the long hook of the anti graft agency finally picked Nzeocha like a fish out of water.
He was afterwards dragged before Honourable Justice Okeke of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos where the EFCC is seeking an extradition order to return him to the United States.
The 54 years old, whose case was transferred to the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Federation from the EFCC since it is an extradition case, worked with the City Nursing Services in the United States as a Physical Therapist's Aide between 2007 and 2009. He was said to have committed the crime while working with the Physical Therapist, having conspired with others and submitted claims worth $45 million to the Medicare and Medicaid for health care services on behalf of some patients who are beneficiaries of the health insurance claims.
Nzeocha and others were paid $30 million out of the sum and in connivance with his cohorts, refused to remit the funds to the beneficiaries. He was then dragged before a United States District Court in the Southern District of Texas Huston, through the United States Department of Justice on October, 19, 2009.
According to the charge sheet, “beginning on or about March 2, 2006, the exact time unknown to the Grand Jury, and continuing thereafter on or about June 26, 2009, in Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas and elsewhere, Godwin Chiedo Nzeocha, Umawa Oke Imo, Kenneth Ibezim Anokam, Thaddeus William Hume, Christiana Joy Clardy and Pamela Effion Ise, being the defendants herein, did knowingly and wilfully, combine, conspire, confederate and agree with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to commit an offence against the United States, namely to execute and attempt to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud a health care benefit program, namely the Medicare and Medicaid program, and to obtain money owned by and under the custody and control of Medicare and Medicaid by means of false and fraudulent pretences, representations, and promises, in connection with the delivery of payment for health care benefits, items and services, in violation of the Title 18, of the United States Code, Section 1347.”
Nzeocha, however fled the United States to Nigeria to avoid facing the Charges levelled against him by the court. But despite the long flight, the arms of the law appear to be longer in this case. Nzeocha met his waterloo when the EFCC received a petition dated 20th September, 2010 from the Legal Attache to the United States Consular Office, Victoria Island, Lagos, on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI. The EFCC accepted the petition, examined it and began a search for Nzeocha. The first move towards his arrest was a letter to the MTN Communications Limited requesting the Call Detail Record of the suspect from a phone number and address provided by the petitioner. Correspondences received from the MTN indicated that the suspect is a resident of Owerri from where most of the calls he made came from. A team of EFCC Operatives visited Owerri. The address provided by the petitioner, however turned out to be Nzeocha parents' address. From intelligence gathered, it was also discovered that the suspect resides somewhere around the area in a house the Operatives gathered he just built. After laying siege for him for almost two weeks, Nzeocha, was finally arrested and brought to the EFCC Zonal Headquarters in Lagos.
A source in the Attorney General Office told magazine that if the case receives a speedy hearing, Nzeocha will be extradited to the United States within two weeks. He added that the case involves a huge scandal that Nigeria as a country has to wash her hands clean in order to show intending criminals who commit fraud abroad and run back to Nigeria to seek refuge that the country does not harbour criminals. He revealed that Nzeocha and his other accomplices filled fictitious forms on behalf of patients which he in turn sends to the Medicare and Medicaid Services to request for claims which he never remitted.
“He committed a health care insurance offence. He was running a centre called the City Nursing Services in the USA where he brings in patients who come to sign blank forms that he has treated them and send it to Medicare and Medicaid Services to request for claims which he never remitted. In the process, he collected more than $30 million dollars. When the FBI came in, after investigation they found out that he was involved in the fraud and so he ran back to Nigeria . So the United States of America through the Legal Attache at the US Consular office requested for his extradition to go and face the charges,” he concluded.
The Medicare programme which is also known as the Federal Health Insurance for the Aged and Disabled Program was created by the United States of America as a voluntary insurance program that is financed by premiums paid by enrolees and funds appropriated by the Federal Government via payroll taxes. The USA Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers the Medicare program through the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) contracted with Physical Therapists who write to apply for the Health Care claims on behalf of their patients which they in turn remit to them.
Of recent, the numbers of requests for assistance on arrest of fleeing Nigerian fraudsters from the FBI to the EFCC have been on the increase . Many of such requests have ended in the extradition of the suspects to the United States of America .
The case involving one Rasheed Mustapha is one of such. Mustapha was alleged to have conspired with four other persons including his cousin also based in the United States in 2006, to obtain cheques from the 401(k) Pension Plans to which they are not entitled and deposited those cheques in various bank accounts, withdrew the proceeds of those deposits and distributed the proceed among themselves. Once employed by the ACS, a Pension Fund Administrator in the US , Mustapha informed his conspirators how to obtain from the ACS's default Personal Identification Numbers PINs for the 401(K) Plans Accounts of the 401(K) participants. He also provided them with information as to how to change the mailing addresses associated with those accounts, and how to obtain distribution cheques from those accounts. The FBI discovered this and placed an arrest warrant on him before he finally ran away from the US to Nigeria . The FBI however contacted the EFCC who began its search before he was finally arrested in March, 2011. Also extradited through the same efforts was Emmanuel Ekhator for committing High Wire Scam in the USA .
There is an extradition treaty signed between USA and Great Britain in December 22, 1931, and made applicable to Nigeria in June 24, 1935, which was later gazetted with the Federal Republic of Nigeria Extradition Decree of 1966. Under article 3, it was agreed that extradition shall be reciprocally granted for crimes and offences such as murder, rape, kidnapping, abduction, arson, perjury, fraud, obtaining money or goods by false pretences, etc.
The Justice Department of the United States is also currently relying on this treaty to get Michael Abiodun Bakare back on her soil to face multiple criminal charges of conspiracy, money laundering and stealing of over $20 million. Bakare is presently being detained at the Awolowo Road, Lagos office of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Bakare is wanted in USA on indictments already filed before District Court in the district of Maryland, on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, aiding and abetting. A warrant for his arrest was issued on May 24, 2004, by the district court.
Abiodun Bakare a.k.a Abi, Muyiwa Jones, Mike Jones and Bernard Jones, according to the Department of Justice, is a leader of a group of individuals who committed bank frauds in various states in the USA. To carry out their scheme, the gang obtained certain documents, including cheques, social security certificates, driver’s licences and credit cards of unsuspecting victims.
To carry out their scheme, the gang obtained certain documents, including cheques, social security certificates, driver’s licences and credit cards of unsuspecting victims.
Kafayat Folashade Harris, currently in detention in the United States, is suspected to be the anchor-leg of the gang. It was learnt that she used her employment with a Maryland dental outfit to obtain confidential information on the bank account of members, credit cards etc of rich clients who visited the clinic.
She would then pass the same to the gang leader, Bakare, to use in defrauding the victims through a complicated inter-bank movement of funds.
To cover their tracks, the gang was suspected to have used addresses of vacant residence or addresses of unsuspecting individuals as mailing addresses.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had kept tap on the gang for sometime and on May 5, 2004, a Secret Service Agent attempted to arrest Bakare. It almost cost him his life. Bakare resisted the arrest and jumped into his car. The secret agent attempted to block him, but the suspect almost ran his car over the agent. The agent fired his service pistol at Bakare and slightly wounded him. Bakare escaped from the scene in his car and eventually fled to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, in a bid to show appreciation and also encourage Operatives of the EFCC who participated in the arrest of Mustapha, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI in August 2011, issued certificates of outstanding performance to some staff of the Commission.






THE LESSON OF THIS IS THAT IN THESE SMALL WORLD TIMES THERE IS NO WHERE TO HIDE, IF YOU DO THE CRIME YOU GET READY TO DO THE TIME. RUNNING TO NIGERIA IS NOT AN OPTION , THINK ABOUT THE INTERNET AS A SMALL WORLD AND HOW EASY IT IS TO FIND YOU. IF OSAMA BIN LADEN COULD BE FOUND UNDER TIGHT SECURITY TALK LESS OF HIDING IN A NIGERIAN CITY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED........Eagle eye Reporter, Lagos , Nigeria