Home Health Owner Sentenced for Role in Healthcare Fraud Conspiracy

A 72-year-old Houston man has been sentenced to 30 months behind bars after pleading guilty to a $21 million, multiyear home health fraud scheme. He also was ordered to pay $21.2 million in restitution.

Felix Amos pleaded guilty in Dec. 2018 to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Amos and his wife, Oluyemisi Amos, were indicted in April 2017 and charged in an eight-count indictment with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud and money laundering. Oluyemisi Amos 41, previously pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 72 months in prison.

In March, a jury returned guilty verdicts against co-conspirator Fausat Adekunle, 39, on 10 counts following a four-day jury trial. She was ordered to serve 144 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. She also must pay restitution of $21.2 million

The Amos couple owned and operated five home health companies from 2010 to 2015. Adekunle was office manager. Evidence and testimony during her trial revealed how the three conspired to submit claims to Medicare for home health services for patients that did not need services or did not receive them, nor did physicians order the services.

Once the Amoses took over one of the companies, there was a dramatic increase in the billing for services. Authorities would place restrictions on them after noticing the high-volume billings, but not before Medicare had paid out millions in fraudulent claims.

Although Adekunle’s attorneys argued she was not aware of the scheme, Adekunle was the signor on one of the home health agency’s bank accounts and used funds from that account to pay for her business, Gideon’s Boutique, and for the purchase of a Land Rover Range Rover vehicle.

The Amoses paid physicians to certify Medicare beneficiaries for home health services they either did not provide or for which they did not qualify. Felix Amos used the money to purchase a $3.5 million house in Houston and two other properties.

The home healthcare industry is riddled with fraud and the government has made it one of its priorities. Our firm represents healthcare professionals in state and federal court who are charged with fraudulent billing, kickbacks, Medicare and Medicaid fraud and false claims, among others. For more information, contact us at 305-358-4500 or email info@vitalehealthlaw.com.