LA Business Owner Gets Prison Time For Medicare Fraud

October 5, 2010 10:52 AM

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The owner of a medical equipment company who pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud has been sentenced to 46 months in prison.

Sylvester Ijewere, 49, acknowledged he made nearly $500,000 between 2007 and 2009 by submitting false claims to Medicare for expensive power wheelchairs.

During his sentencing Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the owner of Arleta-based Maydads Medical Supply was ordered to pay $211,755 in restitution. He was also told he must serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

LA Business Owner Gets Prison Time For Medicare Fraud

Slohand1

Question – If Mr. Ijewere acknowledged he made nearly $500,000 by submitting false claims, why is he being ordered to pay only $211,755? Seems like he should be ordered to pay back the $500,000 he stole!
e. f. ramos

Yes, he should be ordered to pay back what he stole from the government. If only there’s more government audit on all medicare claims, the state wouldn’t be
in such a mess. There’s more cheaters in the medical equipment business than you and I can imagine.
http://highmarkhealthoptions.net Robert Lowe

Insurers offer hundreds of different plans around the country, all with their own sets of variables like different deductibles, premiums and co-insurance. UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc. are the two largest Medicare Advantage plan providers. This year, about 24 different plans will be offered in each county, even though the overall total fell about 13 percent nationwide, [the Kaiser Family Foundation] said, citing in part new rules encouraging consolidation of low enrollment and duplicative plans. About 11.8 million Medicare beneficiaries, or nearly a quarter of the total Medicare population, were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan as of Sept. 30