Chicago doctor and wife ordered to pay over $3M for illegal kickbacks in Medicare referrals

A Chicago doctor and his wife have been ordered to pay more than $3 million in civil damages and penalties for unlawfully seeking and receiving kickbacks from a home health agency as payment for the doctor's referrals of Medicare patients, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Dr. Ndudi Aniemeka owns Boycin Medical Clinic in Chicago, while his wife, Obiageli Aniemeka, serves as the clinic's administrator.

The Aniemekas asked for and received money and other items of value from Grand Home Health, a home health agency, in 2009 and 2010 as payments for Dr. Aniemeka's referrals of Medicare payments.

Grand Home Health then provided services to those patients and billed Medicare, which is in violation of the False Claims Act, prosecutors said.

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The Aniemekas personally took over $80,000 in kickbacks from Grand Home Health in connection to Dr. Aniemeka's referrals.

Earlier this month, a federal jury determined that the Aniemekas' receipt of kickbacks caused 158 false claims to be submitted to Medicare, resulting in Medicare paying $425,976.32 on those claims.

Last Friday, U.S. District Chief Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer entered judgment against the Aniemekas in the amount of $3,015,928.96, made up of $1,277,928.96 in treble damages and $1,738,000 in civil penalties.