February 25, 2017

New York announced the arrest of Kester Atumonyogo, 43, of Valley Stream, N.Y., and his company Monack Medical Supply, Inc. (“Monack”) for allegedly stealing over $1.5 million from Medicaid and Healthfirst, a Medicaid managed care organization. The defendants are accused of using a false Social Security number to enroll Monack as a participating medical supply provider in Medicaid. Thereafter, the company allegedly filed false claims that misrepresented to Medicaid and Healthfirst that Monack dispensed a highly specialized, expensive enteral, nutritional formula to needy pediatric patients. Enteral nutritional formulas are prescribed by physicians for patients who must obtain nutrients via a feeding tube and cannot metabolize dietary nutrients from substantive food. The Medicaid reimbursement rate for specialized enteral, nutritional formula is substantially higher than off-the-shelf or over-the-counter nutritional supplements. The Attorney General’s investigation conducted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) revealed that Medicaid and Healthfirst, relying on Monack’s false claims, paid Monack for specialized enteral, nutritional formula, but that Monack only dispensed “Pediasure” or similar over-the-counter nutritional supplements to Medicaid patients, when it dispensed anything at all. NY

Tagged in: Healthcare Fraud, Managed Care, Medicaid,