Kester Atumonyogo and his Brooklyn-based company, Monack Medical Supply, Inc., have been charged with stealing over $1.5 million from Medicaid and Healthfirst, a Medicaid managed care organization, by New York State prosecutors.
The government accused the defendants of using a false Social Security number to enroll Monack as a participating medical supply provider in Medicaid. Thereafter, the company allegedly filed false claims that misrepresented to Medicaid and Healthfirst that Monack dispensed a highly specialized, expensive enteral, nutritional formula to needy pediatric patients.
Enteral nutritional formulas are prescribed by physicians for patients who must obtain nutrients via a feeding tube and cannot metabolize dietary nutrients from substantive food. The Medicaid reimbursement rate for specialized enteral, nutritional formula is substantially higher than off-the-shelf or over-the-counter nutritional supplements.
New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement that an investigation conducted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (“MFCU”) found that Medicaid and Healthfirst, relying on Monack's allegedly false claims, had paid Monack for specialized enteral, nutritional formula, but that Monack only had dispensed “Pediasure” or similar over-the-counter nutritional supplements to Medicaid patients, when it dispensed anything at all.
According to prosecutors, the state's investigation also uncovered that Mr. Atumonyogo allegedly used two different dates of birth and claimed to have been born in two different countries. As alleged, using that false identifying information, Mr. Atumonyogo obtained multiple driver's licenses and two different Social Security numbers that he had used interchangeably since the 1990s.
Mr. Atumonyogo was charged with using the second Social Security number he obtained in the United States to enroll Monack in the Medicaid program.
Prosecutors also alleged that Mr. Atumonyogo used a different Social Security number in 2006 to obtain welfare and that, in October 2012 and September 2013, Mr. Atumonyogo filed false income verifications with the New York City Human Resources Administration, claiming that he only made $200 a week or less. According to the government, from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013, Mr. Atumonyogo personally received at least $366,906.00 from Monack.
In papers filed in New York City Criminal Court, Mr. Atumonyogo and Monack were charged with Health Care Fraud in the First Degree, a class B felony, and three counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony. Mr. Atumonyogo also was charged with Welfare Fraud in the Third Degree, a class D felony, and two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony.
If convicted on all charges, Mr. Atumonyogo faces up to 25 years in state prison.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].