In 2009 and 2010, they asked for and received kickbacks from Chicago-based Grand Home Health as payment for Dr. Aniemeka referring Medicare patients to the home health agency, the department said. Grand Home Health then provided services to those patients and billed Medicare.
The married couple took more than $80,000 in kickbacks connected to the referrals, the department said. The scheme resulted in 158 false claims to Medicare, for which the agency paid $425,976.
The $3 million penalty includes more than $1.2 million in treble damages and more than $1.7 million in civil penalties, the department said. The penalty was handed down May 12 by a federal judge after a jury found them liable May 2 during a trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
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