A U.S. district court has sentenced a Nigerian man, Henry Ezeonyido, to 27 months in prison for orchestrating a health insurance fraud scheme that defrauded insurers of over $1 million through fake international medical claims.

The 37-year-old was also ordered to pay $655,313 in restitution and forfeit $396,998 in proceeds linked to the fraudulent scheme, and will serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison term.

According to a statement by the US department of justice, from October 2019 to February 2022, Ezeonyido submitted false claims to five insurance companies, claiming that he and at least seven others had received emergency medical treatment overseas for severe injuries such as stabbings, gunshot wounds, and car accidents. 

The statement read, “Ezeonyido was arrested and charged in July 2024 along with co-conspirators Brendon Ashe, Aqiyla Atherton, Darline Cobbler and Ariel Lambert. Ezeonyido was later indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024. All four of Ezeonyido’s co-defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and were subsequently sentenced to probation.

“From approximately October 2019 to February 2022, Ezeonyido submitted fraudulent health insurance claims – on his behalf and on behalf of at least seven other individuals, including Ashe, Atherton, Cobbler and Lambert – to five different health insurance companies for expensive medical treatment that they purportedly received and paid for out-of-pocket while travelling overseas.

“Many of the claims included fake traumatic injuries such as stabbings, gunshot wounds, and hit-and-run car accidents that the defendants and others purportedly suffered, requiring their hospitalisation abroad. In nearly all instances, the individuals were actually in the United States at the time of the purported international medical events.”

Following the submission of the false claims, the insurance companies disbursed approximately $655,313 to the individuals involved, some of whom reportedly paid kickbacks to Ezeonyido for orchestrating and facilitating the payouts.

It added, “As a result of these fraudulent claims, the victim’s health insurance companies were billed over $1m for services that were never provided, resulting in payments totalling approximately $655,313.

“Upon receiving these payments from their health insurance companies, Ashe, Cobbler, Lambert, and others paid a portion of the proceeds to Ezeonyido and other co-conspirators, including Atherton, who acted as an intermediary, bringing others into the scheme in exchange for a cut of their paid claims. In total, Ezeonyido retained approximately $396,998 in fraud proceeds.”

The US authorities emphasized the significance of the sentencing in combating healthcare fraud. “Healthcare fraud affects every American through increased premiums and reduced trust in the system,” said U.S. Attorney Foley