More fraud tourism

They call it the City of Brotherly Love, but Philadelphia is quickly growing a national reputation as the nation’s leading producer of fraud tourists.

Last month, the U.S. Dept. of Justice announced charges against 15 new fraud defendants, including more from Philadelphia. They noted,

Deborah Hodges, 59, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud, in connection with a scheme to submit $5.3 million in fraudulent claims to the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program of Minnesota Medicaid, of which approximately $5.2 million was paid. As alleged in the indictment, Hodges used House of Heroes, Inc. (HOH), an HSS provider, to bill for in-person services that were never actually provided. 

Hodges appeared in federal court in downtown Minneapolis yesterday (June 4) to enter a not guilty plea. Your correspondent was there.

Despite the millions of dollars allegedly stolen, Hodges herself is pleading poverty. KARE-11’s A.J. Lagoe reports that Hodges is asking the federal government to pay the costs for her travel between Philadelphia and Minneapolis so that she can face justice. Amazingly, the court said “yes.” Hodges appeared yesterday via an all-expenses-paid trip financed by you, the federal taxpayer. Where did the $5 million go?

Her next court appearance is scheduled for July 31.

Also appearing in court yesterday, in an unrelated fraud case, was Ibrahim Bashir Abdi, 25. The DOJ reported last month,

Muhammad Abdulqadir Omar, 32, of Roseville, Minnesota, and Ibrahim Bashir Abdi, 25, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, were charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit $3.3 million in fraudulent claims to the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program of Minnesota Medicaid, of which approximately $3.2 million was paid. As alleged in the indictment, Omar and Abdi co-owned and operated North Home Health Care LLC (NHHC) and Omar individually owned South Home Health Care LLC (SHHC).

Yesterday, Abdi entered the court dressed nicely in a gray business suit, accompanied by his privately hired attorney. He filed a not guilty plea and will remain out of custody as the case proceeds.

Abdi is due back in court on September 17.

Abdi’s appearance yesterday provided a stark contrast to the most recent court date of his co-defendant, Omar. Mr. Omar appeared for a detention hearing on May 27 and your correspondent was there.

Omar was pushed into the courtroom in a wheelchair, wearing a yellow prison-issued outfit, and surrounded by a posse of deputy U.S. Marshals. The occasion was a detention hearing, at which he was represented by a privately-hired lawyer. Omar was not released, as it came out that he owns residential property in Nairobi, Kenya, and has close family residing back in his native Somalia.

You will recall that Omar made national news on account of his dramatic escape from FBI arrest last month, featuring a leap from a fourth-story apartment balcony. The wheelchair is needed on account of the broken leg picked up in the attempt.

Reportedly, Omar hobbled to his apartment complex’s parking garage and made his escape via his six-figure Audi sedan. Subject to an FBI dragnet, Omar remained on the lam for a full day, holed up in the suburban home of his cousins, who themselves have been charged in a separate Medicaid-fraud case.

Omar is also due back in court on September 17.

Finally, the week in fraud concluded with another federal court hearing involving another unrelated fraud case. This file involves a father and son team. The DOJ reported back in Septermber,

Christopher Falade and his son, Emmanuel Falade, worked together to run Faladcare Inc. as a provider in the HSS Program.

The Falades, along with their employees at Faladcare, were supposed to provide housing consulting, transitioning, and sustaining services to qualifying people in need.

Instead, over the course of years, the Falades and their conspirators created and submitted Program reimbursement claims that were inflated and fraudulent. By doing so, Faladcare received Program payments far exceeding the HSS services they had actually provided. In all, the Falades claimed to service about 100 different beneficiaries and for such services claimed to be entitled to over $2.2 million.

Your correspondent was there, in.a sense. Along with other media, I was physically present in the back of a courtroom in downtown St. Paul. The court hearing was conducted entirely via Zoom (projected onto a TV in the room) between the presiding judge and attorneys for both sides. The Falades themselves were not present, neither in the room nor virtually.

No matter. The purpose of the Zoom meeting was to set dates for the upcoming trial. It came out that more developments in the case are expected over the coming weeks, including the possibility of a superseding indictment. Date setting was postponed for now.