Podiatrist Sentenced for Medicare and Medicaid Fraud (IL)
West Peoria podiatrist was sentenced Friday to one year in federal prison for bilking Medicare out of thousands of dollars over the past decade by writing bills for medical procedures he didn't perform. Dr. Ernest Nwani, 57, also was ordered to repay $109,127 to Medicare and Medicaid for the bogus operations, some 400 of them in all.
Nwani, the sole medical provider for Footworld Medical Center, which he operated out of his house, admitted he defrauded the government by billing for services he didn't provide or didn't provide to the level that he charged Medicare. A company hired by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat fraud last year noted irregular billing practices by the doctor. An investigation revealed patients did not have procedures or even surgeries for which Nwani had billed Medicare.
From 2002 until 2006, Nwani submitted claims, which Medicare paid, for 539 surgical procedures of various types regarding 442 patients and claims for the permanent removal of 1,082 toenails from 394 patients, according to court records. Medicare paid $171,760 for the surgeries and $100,180 for the toenail removals. Thirty-three patients were interviewed and of those, "none of the surgeries billed for these 33 patients and for which Medicare paid, could be verified as having been performed," court records state.
