Winnie Waruru: Kenyan nurse in Ksh.12 billion fraud scandal to be sentenced in the US on Thursday

Winnie Waruru, the Kenyan-born nurse based in the U.S who pleaded guilty in a USD 100 million (Ksh.12 billion) home health care fraud scheme in September last year, will be sentenced on Thursday.

Waruru was charged alongside her co-accused, Faith Newton, for swindling Massachusetts State of the amount through making false claims and billings to a programme that provides health coverage for low-income earners.

According the indictment, the two allegedly billed MassHealth and Medicare for fraudulent home health services from January 2013 to January 2017 and paid kickbacks to induce patient referrals, some of which were unnecessary.

Newton then allegedly laundered the ill-gotten gains.

It is alleged that in order to siphon more money, the duo in some instances entered sham employment relationships with patients’ family members to provide home health aide services that were not medically necessary and routinely billed for fictitious visits that did not occur.

They were arrested and charged in February 2021, each indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud; one count of aiding and abetting health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks.

Waruru was also indicted on two counts of making false statements and one count of making a false statement in a health care matter while Faith Newton was further indicted on one count of money laundering conspiracy and seven counts of money laundering.

The U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. scheduled sentencing for Jan. 12, 2023.

According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Waruru is facing a sentence of up to 15 years if found guilty. ,

Newton meanwhile pleaded not guilty and is pending trial. She is said to be the wife of Francis Nderitu Kimaru, a Kenyan man who was arrested in 2016 after investigators established that his company, Compassionate Homecare Inc, had been filing fake claims under the US Medicaid programme which saw the US government lose USD 43 million (Ksh.5.2 billion).