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An Ohio husband and wife have been sentenced for using their home-health company to defraud Medicaid.
Riyad Altallaa, 52, was sentenced to four years in prison for using his company to scam Medicaid and build a $932,000 luxury home. His wife, 50-year-old Muna Alnoubani, received three years of probation for her role in the scheme.
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The couple pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud Medicaid in December, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Altallaa also pleaded guilty to money laundering for using the proceeds of the scam to finance their house.
Investigators said that between 2011 and 2015, the couple’s company, Columbus Home Health Services, routinely charged Medicaid for services it hadn’t provided, and falsified the conditions of patients so it could bill for services the patients didn’t need to receive.
Altallaa and Alnoubani also ordered their employees to submit fake bills and time sheets, according to the Dispatch. They also faked the work histories of their employees to make it appear that they were qualified to provide home health services.
“It was egregious,” Assistant US Attorney Steven M. Brown told the Dispatch. “They made a significant amount of money off the taxpayer and Medicaid and other health insurance companies. It allowed them to have this lavish lifestyle.”
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