Akinsunbo Akinbile, who owns and operates Hallco Medical Supply, a Houston-area durable medical equipment (DME) company, pled guilty late last year to eight counts of Medicare fraud. He has now been sentenced to 30 months in prison. After he completes his prison term, Mr. Akinbile must serve three additional years of supervised release. He was also sentenced to pay restitution in the amount of $471,022 — the same amount he fraudulently obtained from Medicare through false claims.
Hallco Medical Supply provided orthotics and other durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries. However, Hallco submitted Medicare claims for orthotics and other DME devices that were not medically necessary and/or were not actually provided by the company. Many of these claims were for orthotic devices that were part of “arthritis kits,” purportedly used in treatment of arthritis-related conditions. These kits contained an assortment of braces and accessories. Over a two year period, Mr. Akinbile submitted claims to Medicare for about $737,770 and was paid about $471,022.
Health care fraud is a major problem in our country, which costs Medicare and Medicaid programs billions of dollars. Whistleblowers who know about such wrongdoing can have a tremendous impact in fighting fraud. Because whistleblowers are so important to fighting fraud, the law provides protections for them, allows them to file suit on behalf of the government, and allows them to share in any recovery.
Waters & Kraus is a national firm with highly skilled lawyers practicing qui tam litigation in four offices, including Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Baltimore. Our attorneys have decades of experience successfully representing whistleblowers in health care fraud cases. Contact us or call our attorneys at 800.226.9880 to learn about our practice and how we can assist.
