New York state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced on Wednesday that Darlington Odidika, executive director of Yonkers-based nonprofit Systems and Abilities Inc., pleaded guilty to his role in a bid-rigging and kickback scheme to defraud the Medicaid program of money earmarked to allow the elderly and infirm to live in their homes and communities rather than in institutional settings.
As a condition of his plea, Odidika, 47, of Poughkeepsie, will be sentenced to three months in jail and five years of probation. Odidika and the corporation are also required to repay the full amount that was stolen from Medicaid as a result of the scheme.
“Every dollar stolen by perpetrators like Mr. Odidika impacts our state”™s ability to support its neediest citizens,” Schneiderman said in the announcement.
In a Feb. 4Â statement announcing Odidika’s arrest, Schneiderman estimated the amount stolen at more than $50,000.
According to Schneiderman’s office, Systems and Abilities was an enrolled provider in the Nursing Home Transition and Diversion program, a state Department of Health program that provides senior citizens and those suffering from physical disabilities alternatives to institutional living.
Operating in Westchester and surrounding counties, Systems and Abilities arranged for contractors to provide modifications to existing homes of qualified Medicaid recipients through a required bid process and then billed Medicaid based upon the alleged final costs of the projects.
In Odidika’s guilty plea, he admitted to falsifying bids for these modifications and submitting them to agents of the Department of Health between Aug. 31, 2009, and Nov. 30, 2011. Odidika was able to control which contractor won the bid and inflate the amount of payment that Systems and Abilities received as its share of the project. Odidika also admitted to submitting final cost reports that were false. Similarly, he admitted to falsifying final cost reports in the transition program for moving expenses.
Odidika and Systems and Abilities each pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree grand larceny in Westchester County Court. Odidika is set to receive a sentence of 90 days in the Westchester County Jail and five years of probation, according to the AG’s office. Sentencing is scheduled for July 29.
Systems and Abilities was sentenced to pay a fine of $5,000. Odidika and the corporation are also required to pay restitution of $21,690, most of which has already been reimbursed to the Medicaid program, according to Schneiderman’s office.
