Three women from the Houston area are facing accusations of defrauding the US government of over $80 million in federal Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement funds.
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against the owner of United Palliative & Hospice Care (UPHC) and two others in relation to this extensive fraud case. The indicted individuals include Dera Ogudo, the owner of UPHC, Victoria Martinez, an employee of UPHC, and Evelyn Shaw, an employee at a psychiatric hospital.
As per court documents, prosecutors claim that Ogudo, along with her family members and co-conspirators, owned and managed multiple group homes in Houston where Medicare beneficiaries, including the elderly, disabled individuals, and those with mental illnesses, resided.
Prosecutors said the accused got more than $87 million in kickbacks over a seven-year period, allegedly making Ogudo very wealthy. Records show the government seized one multimillionaire dollar estate in Richmond that’s in a gated community, another property a few miles away that was still an empty lot, and a third property in the Cypress area.
ABC Houston affiliate KTRK went to Ogudo’s listed address, where a man inside told us he has no idea who Odugo is or where she might be.
In the indictment, prosecutors allege, “Ogudo and her co-conspirators preyed on the vulnerable residents of those group homes by enrolling them in hospice services with UPHC when they were not terminally ill.” They also say that an unnamed doctor was allegedly in on the fraud.
KTRK spoke on the phone to a woman who used to work with Ogudo. She told us that one example would be that Ogudo would drop off adult diapers and other care items to various senior facilities around the Richmond area. The woman says Ogudo would then bill the government as if she was providing hospice care.
If convicted of the 28 charges, the trio could face decades behind bars.
Copyright © 2025 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.
