Two Missouri City home health agency owners have been ordered to federal prison after admitting to defrauding millions from Medicare. Vincent Nwabeke, 72, pleaded guilty April 20 to false statements in a healthcare matter, while Victoria Nwabeke, 70, admitted to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud Sept. 16, 2019. US District Judge Alfred H. Bennett has now ordered Victoria Nwabeke to serve 48 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. She must also pay $8,523,917.11 in restitution to Medicare. Vincent Nwabeke was previously sentenced to 12 months and one day of imprisonment and ordered to pay $1,084,996 in restitution to Medicare. The Nwabekes co-owned Vital Ambulatory Healthcare Inc. from 2012 to 2018, Victoria Nwabeke obtained patient referrals by paying kickbacks to marketers and patients and bribing physicians to authorize medically unnecessary home health services for Vital patients. She also admitted to billing Medicare over $8 million in fraudulent claims for home health services. Vincent Nwabeke was Vital’s Chief Financial Officer. He admitted that in 2018 he filed a fraudulent cost report to Medicare attempting to disguise the kickback payments his wife made as legitimate business expenses.
