Nigerian based in US jailed over $1m scam

A United States District Court has sentenced a 37-year-old Nigerian, Henry Ezeonyido, to 27 months imprisonment for his role in a $1m insurance fraud.

In a statement by the US Department of Justice on Thursday that Ezeonyido perpetrated the fraud between October 2019 and February 2022.

The statement noted that during the period mentioned above, Ezeonyido submitted fraudulent health insurance claims to five insurance companies, claiming that he was involved in a series of accidents while travelling abroad.

The convict was also said to have filed similar fraudulent claims for seven other people, leading to a total of over $1m in claims.

The statement read, “Ezeonyido was arrested and charged in July 2024 along with co-conspirators Brendon Ashe, Aqiyla Atherton, Darline Cobbler and Ariel Lambert. Ezeonyido was later indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024. All four of Ezeonyido’s co-defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and were subsequently sentenced to probation.

“From approximately October 2019 to February 2022, Ezeonyido submitted fraudulent health insurance claims – on his behalf and on behalf of at least seven other individuals, including Ashe, Atherton, Cobbler and Lambert – to five different health insurance companies for expensive medical treatment that they purportedly received and paid for out-of-pocket while travelling overseas.

“Many of the claims included fake traumatic injuries such as stabbings, gunshot wounds, and hit-and-run car accidents that the defendants and others purportedly suffered, requiring their hospitalisation abroad. In nearly all instances, the individuals were actually in the United States at the time of the purported international medical events.”

Ezeonyido reportedly fabricated medical records to show the medical care received, fabricated bank records 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.

Following the claims, the insurance companies paid approximately $655,313 in claims to the affected individuals, some of whom were said to have paid kickbacks to Ezeonyido for helping them facilitate the claims.

It continued, “As a result of these fraudulent claims, the victim’s health insurance companies were billed over $1m for services that were never provided, resulting in payments totalling approximately $655,313.

“Upon receiving these payments from their health insurance companies, Ashe, Cobbler, Lambert, and others paid a portion of the proceeds to Ezeonyido and other co-conspirators, including Atherton, who acted as an intermediary, bringing others into the scheme in exchange for a cut of their paid claims. In total, Ezeonyido retained approximately $396,998 in fraud proceeds.”

Following his arraignment before US District Judge Leo Sorokin, the defendant pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment.

“In February 2025, Ezeonyido pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud.

“Ezeonyido, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 27 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.