Houston Residents Arrested in Medicare Fraud Crackdown

Houston, TX -- The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced the arrest of 22 individuals in Texas for allegedly defrauding medicare. The individuals were involved in 11 cases and are accused of bilking the government for more than $136 million.

Among those charged is Houston physician John Ramirez. Ramirez, 62, is charged with participating in separate schemes to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary home health services that were often not provided and faces four counts of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Ramirez's scheme allegedly involved authorizing home-health services for Medicare beneficiaries when such services were not medically necessary, not provided by the home health agency or both.

The scam allegedly cost the government $18 million. The U.S. Attorney's Office is also prosecuting two cases that involve Ramirez's alleged accomplices.

The government has charged Susana Bermudez, 49, of Houston for conspiring with Ramirez to defraud Medicare. Bermudez allegedly used her company, the Milten Clinic, to sell signed Medicare certificates to home health care agencies.

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The agencies would use the certificates to bill Medicare for home health care services that were medically unnecessary, not provided or both.

Ann Shepherd, 60, and Yvette Nwoko, 27, both of Houston, were also indicted for allegedly conspiring with Ramirez to commit Medicare fraud. Shepherd owned Amex Medical, where Nwoko worked.

The duo allegedly created fraudulent records to make it appear as if Medicare beneficiaries qualified for home health services, services that were often medically unnecessary.

Shepherd allegedly paid doctors, Ramirez included, to sign false Medicare certifications; which she would then sell to home health agencies. The agencies would use the certifications to bill Medicare for services that were unneeded or never delivered.

In another, unrelated, case a Missouri City resident received a 20 count indictment for a $15 million scam. Gwendolyn Arnetta Gibbs aka Gwendolyn Arnetta Guidry, 64, owned and operated the Daybreak Rehabilitation Center in Southwest Houston.

The indictment alleges that Gibbs allegedly paid kickbacks to Justina Obumnador Uzowulu, 55, who ran a group home. In exchange for the bribes, Uzolowu allegedly brought residents of her group home to Daybreak so Gibbs could bill Medicare for group therapy sessions.

Gibbs is also charged with billing Medicare for group therapy sessions under a doctor who didn't work at Daybreak.

The Houston arrests are part of a nationwide sweep by the U.S. Department of Justice's Medicare Fraud Strike Force. The sweep resulted in civil and criminal charges against more than 300 people across 36 federal districts for allegedly defrauding Medicare of about $900 million.