Houston Man Sentenced for Role in Patient Information Trafficking Scheme

BEAUMONT, TX—A 44-year-old Houston man has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a patient information trafficking scheme in the Eastern District of Texas announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Lodrick “Chidi” Eneh pleaded guilty on June 20, 2011, to illegal remunerations charges and was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

According to the indictment, from September 2006 until November 2008, Houston businessman, Eneh conspired to pay and receive kickbacks for the referral of Medicare patients. Eneh entered into arrangements with Anthony Nnadi, Chima Imoh, and John Nasky Okonkwo, owners of medical supply businesses, in which he agreed to provide them with patient information that would be used to submit claims to Medicare. After the business owners submitted claims to Medicare and were reimbursed, they would split a percentage of the proceeds with Eneh. Eneh was indicted by a federal grand jury on Jan. 5, 2011.

Nnadi, Imoh, and Nasky have all pleaded guilty to health care fraud offenses. Nnadi was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to pay $576,000.00 in restitution to the Medicare program and to forfeiture of $100,000. Nasky was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $4.9 million to the Medicare and Medicaid programs and forfeiture of $4.8 million. Imoh was sentenced to a five year term of probation and ordered to pay $56,000 in restitution to Medicare for his role in the scheme.

The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by agents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Texas Office of the Attorney General-Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (OAG-MFCU), and the FBI. This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld.