Four Charged in $1 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

Press Release

One defendant indicted; three agree to plead guilty

BOSTON - One Massachusetts resident has been indicted, and two Massachusetts residents and one New York resident have agreed to plead guilty, in connection with a scheme to defraud various health insurance companies by submitting false claims seeking reimbursement for over $1 million of bogus medical expenses purportedly incurred during international travel.

Henry Ezeonyido, 36, of Brockton, Mass., was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud. Brendon Ashe, 40, of Dorchester, Mass.; Darline Cobbler, 40, of Randolph, Mass.; and Ariel Lambert, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., have each agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. All four defendants were originally charged in a complaint unsealed on July 11, 2024.

According to the charging documents, from in or about October 2019 through in or about February 2022, Ezeonyido allegedly submitted fraudulent health insurance claims on his own behalf and on behalf of others, including Ashe, Cobbler, and Lambert, for expensive medical treatment that they purportedly received and paid for out-of-pocket while traveling overseas. It is alleged that many of the claims related to fake traumatic injuries such as stabbings, gunshot wounds, and hit and run car accidents that the defendants and others purportedly suffered requiring their hospitalization abroad.

Ezeonyido allegedly submitted fabricated documents to health insurance companies in support of the fraudulent claims, including fabricated medical records purporting to show the medical care received, fabricated bank records purporting to show payment to the international treatment facilities, and - where the claim related to a fake traumatic injury - fabricated police reports describing the circumstances of the alleged event. As a result of these fraudulent claims, various health insurance companies were allegedly billed over $1 million for services that were never provided. According to the charging documents, upon receiving payments from the health insurance companies, Ashe, Cobbler, Lambert and others allegedly paid a portion of the proceeds to Ezeonyido and other co-conspirators.

The charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud each carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Boston Division; and Insurance Fraud Bureau Executive Director Anthony DiPaolo made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Wright of the Health Care Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. Ezeonyido is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated September 9, 2024