Nigerian man sentenced to six years imprisonment in US for bribery
A 54-year-old Nigerian man, Ifeanyi Ozoh, has been sentenced following his conviction for conspiring to pay and receive health care kickbacks and payment of kickbacks to marketers.
A statement by US Attorney Alambar Hamdani, was published on the UD Department of Justice website.
A federal jury deliberated for an hour following a three-day trial before finding Ozoh guilty on all counts on February 14, 2024.
Ozoh was also ordered to pay restitution to Medicaid in the amount of $4.9 million.
At the hearing, the court heard Ozoh was integral to the kickback scheme as he bribed marketers and parents to bring their Medicaid-insured children to a sham dental clinic. In handing down the sentence, the court noted the overwhelming evidence of Ozoh’s guilt presented at trial.
At the time of trial, the jury heard how Ozoh paid marketers $20 to $100 for each Medicaid-insured child referred to Floss. The marketers testified that Ozoh secretly paid them in cash and out of sight of other witnesses, sometimes putting their illegal kickback payments on top of a vending machine down the hall from the clinic.
One clinic manager testified that she repeatedly warned Ozoh that paying marketers was illegal.
From 2020 to 2021, Floss billed Medicaid over $6 million. Floss received over $4 million on those claims, most of which were predicated on a kickback paid to marketers and for dental services that were not provided.
During the trial, a representative testified that Medicaid prohibits the payment of kickbacks for referrals of medical services.
Ozoh was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
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