WOODLAND HILLS—The owner of Osbed Medical Supply in Woodland Hills was charged with health care fraud, along with 110 other defendants nationwide.
Camillus Ehigie, 50, and five other southland residents were arrested on February 17 for billing unnecessary aid and equipment to Medicare.
Ehigie, who worked with Evans Oniha of Rancho Palos Verdes, provided fraudulent information to Medicare for medical equipment and in-home nursing services. More than $16 million in fraudulent claims were submitted.
According to a press release by the United States Attorney’s Office, Ehigie and Oniha “allegedly paid ”marketers’ for access to Medicare beneficiary information or to have Medicare beneficiaries obtain fraudulent prescriptions.”
Both Ehigie and Oniha owned Caravan Medical Supplies in Culver City and Prosperity Home Services in Lawndale. Ehigie, the sole operator of Osbed Medical Supply, was also charged for ordering a co-conspirator to lie to public officials about the health care offenses run in all three companies.
The defendants were detained through the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative put forth by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to catch deceptive schemes in health care.
“These actions are part of a coordinated, nationwide sweep in our continuing battle against greedy criminals who profit from exploiting federal health care programs,” said Glenn R. Ferry, the Los Angeles Region’s Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
This concentrated effort is the beginning of what the team hopes will help end schemes such as this one in the future.
