Systems and Abilities director pleads guilty to scheme

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. 4 statement announcing Odidika’s arrest, Schneiderman estimated the amount stolen at more than $50,000.

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.