HOUSTON – Seven people from the Houston area have been charged in a superseding indictment tied to an alleged Medicare fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said.
Authorities arrested Hattie Banks, 49, of Humble; Lydia Obere, 59, and Cheryl Brooks, 64, both of Houston; and Ena Cowart, 50, of Missouri City. They join Dera Ogudo, 40, and Victoria Martinez, 36, both of Richmond, and Evelyn Shaw, 52, of Houston, who were arrested earlier.
According to a 43-count superseding indictment returned Oct. 5, the seven are accused of conspiring to bill Medicare and Medicaid for more than $110 million in hospice services for patients who weren’t actually terminally ill. Prosecutors say Ogudo and Martinez ran a business called United Palliative & Hospice Company (UPHC) that misled elderly patients and their families about the care being billed to the government…