The owner of an alcohol and drug counseling agency has agreed to a $230,000 settlement to resolve violations of the federal and state False Claims Act, according to John H. Durham, U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Hector B. Chukwuemeka Okwuosa and his business, the now-defunct My Father My Son Rehabilitation and Counseling Center LLC, provided in-home mental health and substance abuse counseling services in the Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford markets.
Okwuosa and his business were accused of billing Medicaid for behavioral health services as if a licensed individual provided the services. Although Okwuosa is enrolled as a licensed behavioral health clinician in independent practice in the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program, the services in question were rendered by an unlicensed individual.
Okwuosa and My Father My Son agreed to pay $230,000 as reimbursement to the Medicaid program for claims that transpired between March 1, 2017, and May 5, 2018.
Under the False Claims Act, the government can recover up to three times its actual damages, plus penalties of $11,665 to $23,331 for each false claim.
This case stemmed from a larger investigation by federal and state agencies into fraudulent activity in the area of behavioral health services. A nationwide investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice involved more than 300 defendants in criminal and civil cases across 51 federal districts.
The defendants included more than 100 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals. They are accused of submitting more than $6 billion in false and fraudulent claims to federal health care programs and private insurers.
