Industry Note:
Dallas HHA Owners, Recruiter Plead Guilty To Fraud
Published on Thu Jan 27, 2011
Four HHA owners and a patient recruiter have pled guilty in Dallas federal court to health care fraud. The two husband-and-wife owners of Alliance Healthcare Services -- Ernest and Edith Amadi and George and Agatha Opurum -- and patient recruiter Ollie Futrell participated in a scheme where records were falsified to make Alliance patients who were not homebound appear so, prosecutors say in a release. Alliance employees and owners also falsified time sheets and visit logs so they could bill for services inadequately rendered or not made at all, says the release from U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldaña. In addition to being owners, Ernest Amadi was the CEO, George Opurum was the CFO, and the wives were nurses. The Alliance owners also paid Futrell cash for recruiting patients for the agency. Futrell often paid patients $100 per month to receive home care, prosecutors charge. All five defendants will face sentencing in April. They [...]