13 Years in Prison for DME Medicare Fraud

The owner of durable medical equipment companies has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after a jury convicted her of submitting false claims to Medicare.

Uben Ogbu Rush owned or controlled six companies that sold durable medical equipment (DME), including motorized wheelchairs, hospital beds, and pressure-reducing mattresses.

The evidence at trial showed that Rush paid marketers to recruit Medicare beneficiaries who allowed Rush’s companies to use their identities and Medicare numbers to submit false claims to Medicare. 

The marketers were paid kickbacks for each patient they recruited.  The marketers, in turn, paid kickbacks to doctors who wrote prescriptions for medical equipment that was not medically necessary.  In many instances, the doctors wrote prescriptions for patients they had never seen.  By engaging in this conduct, both the doctors who accepted kickbacks and the individuals who paid the kickbacks violated the anti-kickback statute.

The government claimed that Rush submitted more than $15 million worth of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, and that Medicare paid out more than $8 million on those false claims.

The government has also prosecuted the recruiters and doctors involved in the DME fraud.  One recruiter has already been sentenced to more than 3 years in prison.  The other recruiters and doctors have not yet been sentenced.

DME fraud investigations are often conducted by large teams of investigators, auditors, analysts and lawyers from the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), state Attorney General Offices and Medicaid Fraud Control Units, and other state and federal government agencies.

In other words, if you are under investigation or have been charged with DME fraud, then you are facing a huge army of investigators and prosecutors committed to proving and prosecuting the case against you.

You need an experienced Medicare and Medicaid fraud attorney on your side.  Do not delay.  At the first sign that you may be under investigation, consult with an experienced Medicare and Medicaid fraud attorney immediately.  It could mean the difference between saving and losing your livelihood, your license, and your freedom.

To arrange a consultation with an experienced Medicare and Medicaid fraud attorney, call John Howley, Esq. at (212) 601-2728 or click here to reach our office via email.

John Howley, Esq.

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