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A Contra Costa health care CEO who is being charged with alleged fraud was arrested in San Francisco this week while trying to board a flight to Africa, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Antioch resident Cashmir Chinedu Luke, who is in his 60s, tried to board a flight at San Francisco International Airport but was foiled by federal agents before he could fly to Nigeria, the DOJ said Wednesday.
Luke is accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $7 million in payments from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for services that were never actually rendered, prosecutors said. In some cases, the “care” purportedly rendered to veterans happened weeks after they were already dead.
Luke is CEO of Four Corners Health, which provided unskilled in-home nursing and day-to-day care for elderly vets. Four Corners operated in seven counties, including San Francisco and Contra Costa.
Prosecutors allege Luke carried out a five-year scheme to bill the Veterans Administration for care that was never actually given. Four Corners allegedly submitted 10,000 false claims that were reimbursed for $7 million, including claims for days no caretakers actually worked, hours beyond what was actually worked, and claims of care for vets that were no longer living.
The DOJ further alleges that Luke, as billing representative for his company, actively deceived the VA’s third-party benefits administrator as it tried to get back some of the fraudulently paid reimbursements.
“This allowed the Four Corners billing scheme to continue,” said prosecutors.
The reimbursements went directly into Luke’s account and he spent them immediately, prosecutors allege, paying for a lavish lifestyle or transferring the funds into international accounts.
If convicted, Luke faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
