New York, NY - June 26, 2018 - Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today announced the sentencing of registered nurse Collins Anyanwu-Mueller, 48, of Seymour, Connecticut, for stealing over $390,000 from Medicaid. On November 2, 2017, Anyanwu-Mueller pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, after an investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s office revealed that, over the course of nearly five years, Anyanwu-Mueller submitted false claims for private duty nursing services that he never provided to severely disabled patients.
Today, Anyanwu-Mueller was sentenced in Westchester County Court in White Plains by the Honorable Barry H. Warhit to one year in jail. Prior to sentencing Anyanwu-Mueller paid the State of New York $25,000 and has agreed to pay the remaining $367,954 in restitution owed.
“The Medicaid home care program is meant to provide vital care to severely disabled New Yorkers,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Fraudsters who rip off Medicaid will be caught and prosecuted.”
An investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) uncovered that between August 2010 and January 2015, Anyanwu-Mueller submitted claims for payment to Medicaid in which he falsely represented that he provided private-duty nursing services to two severely disabled Medicaid recipients. Anyanwu-Mueller’s false claims included instances when the recipients were in the hospital, when another nurse provided the care, when he was in Europe, when he was caring for another Medicaid recipient, and for an extended period when he sent an unlicensed person to the recipient’s home but billed Medicaid as if he provided the care himself. Both Medicaid recipients required around-the-clock care at their respective homes located in New Rochelle and Pleasantville, New York.
The Attorney General thanks the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General for its referral in this matter.
The investigation was conducted by MFCU Investigator Timothy Connolly and Principal Auditor Investigator Lora Pomponio, with the assistance of Supervising Investigator Peter Markiewicz, Deputy Chief Investigator Kenneth Morgan, and Regional Chief Auditor John Regan.
The criminal case was prosecuted by MFCU Regional Director Anne Jardine. Thomas O’Hanlon is MFCU’s Downstate Chief of Criminal Investigations. MFCU is led by Director Amy Held and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mahoney. The Criminal Justice Division is led by Executive Deputy Attorney General Margaret Garnett.