Nursing services for elderly veterans appear to be rife with fraud as US investigative agencies recently uncovered a deceptive business operated by a CEO who defrauded the Department of Veterans Affairs for over five years.
The CEO of Fresno-based home healthcare firm Four Corners Health, charged with alleged fraud, was arrested by federal agents at San Francisco International Airport as he was trying to escape on a flight to Nigeria.
Cashmir Chinedu Luke fraudulently received over $7 million (£5.1 million) in payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs for services never rendered. In some cases, the care services were purportedly offered to veterans weeks after they had passed away.
Four Corner Health offered unskilled in-home nursing and day-to-day care to elderly VA beneficiaries under the Veterans Community Care Program. The company operated in seven counties: Contra Costa, Fresno, Tulare, Merced, Mariposa, Madera, and San Francisco.
Fraud Scheme of Over Five Years
Prosecutors alleged that the 66-year-old former CEO operated Four Corners between Dec. 2019 and July 2024.
In a fraudulent scheme, Luke billed the VA for hours of care that were never offered to veterans. He submitted nearly 10,000 individual false claims for care offered that led the VA to reimburse the company $7 million for duplicate claims for care that was actually provided, claims for days caretakers were absent, for hours never worked, and for services offered to vets weeks after they were dead.
Born in Nigeria, Luke was the sole billing representative for the company and 'actively' deceived the VA's third-party benefits administrator as it tried to recoup some of the reimbursements. The Four Corners fraudulent billing scheme continued, and Luke personally profited from it as the only owner of the bank account that received the reimbursements.
He spent the reimbursements right after receiving them from the VA. Luke would splurge cash on a lavish lifestyle, cover personal expenses, or transfer money to a network of bank accounts in Asia and Africa.
US Attorney Eric Grant described the fraud as a grave breach of public trust. 'Money intended for men and women who served this country was instead funnelled into a scheme built on lies. The allegations outline a deliberate effort to cheat a system created to protect some of our most vulnerable citizens,' he said.
Luke Faces 10 Years in Prison
The former CEO faces a maximum jail term of 10 years and a $250,000 (£185,137) fine. A sentencing, if any, would be decided at the discretion of the court after considering any applicable statutory factors and the federal sentencing guidelines, which take into account diverse variables.
According to the US Department of Justice, the charges are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
'Our duty is to follow the evidence wherever it leads,' said assistant US Attorney Calvin Lee, who is prosecuting the case. 'The complaint reflects substantial investigative work, but the defendant remains entitled to the presumption of innocence.'
Authorities are cracking down on such fraudulent schemes that are affecting services for veterans and costing the VA millions of dollars for services never offered.
