EFCC extradites Nigerian convicted in US over $1.8m fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has extradited Florence Onyegbu, a Nigerian, to the United States, over the violation of law bordering on the offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a health care matter.

The anti-graft agency announced the extradition of Onyegbu in a statement released on Friday.

EFCC said the Nigerian was extradited following a request from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

BACKGROUND

On February 14, 2011, a US court sentenced Onyegbu to 46 months in prison and ordered her to pay approximately $1.3 million in restitution.

The US department of justice said Onyegbu pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of offer and payment of illegal remuneration in relation to her home health company — De-Promise Home Health Services — located in Dallas.

“Onyegbu admitted that from January 2008 to July 2010, she paid between approximately $100 to $200 per month to multiple beneficiaries in exchange for their Medicare information,” the US department of justice said in a statement released in 2011.

“She used the patients’ information to falsely bill Medicare approximately $1.8 million for purported home health services, including skilled nursing services, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services, and occupational therapy.

“Onyegbu admitted that these patients neither qualified for nor needed the treatment. Her false claims to Medicare resulted in payments totaling more than $1.3 million to De-Promise Home Health Services.”

THE EXTRADITION

EFCC said Onyegbu was arrested at her residence in the Ojodu area of Lagos on February 21, 2022.

“Upon her arrest, a national identity card with the name Janet Boi, as well as a Texas driver’s license with the name Florence Enwerim Onyegbu, were found on her,” the statement reads.

“The commission, on March 22, 2023, handed over Onyegbu to the FBI, following an extradition order granted by Justice Z.B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on December 2, 2022.

“Onyegbu’s travails began after she was arrested on February 12, 2011, in the U.S. and subsequently sentenced to 46 months imprisonment, following a guilty plea, over the violation of the U.S. Law bordering on the offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a health care matter.

“Although she was ordered to report for service of her sentence on April 4, 2011, she failed to surrender on that date.

“Consequently, she was further charged with failure to surrender for service of sentence in violation of U.S. Law on March 4, 2013.”