Gwinnett couple escapes prison after stealing more than $1 million
A Gwinnett couple who admitted to stealing more than $1 million were sentenced to the county jail’s work release program, house arrest and probation, Lauren Kane, spokeswoman for the state Attorney General announced.
Olufemi Afuape and Oluyemisi Afuape of Lilburn, received no state prison time after pleading guilty Friday to one count of Medicaid fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the state of Georgia.
Oluyemisi Afuape was sentenced to three years house arrest, followed by 12 years of probation, Kane said. Olufemi Afuape was sentenced to three years work release at the Gwinnett Detention Center, followed by 12 years of probation.
They were ordered to pay $1,407,325.50 in restitution to the Georgia Department of Community Health.
Oluyemisi Afuape, a physical therapist, and her husband, Olufemi Afuape, opened a business called Zion Rehab Services and attracted poor children by advertising free day care and free summer camp programs under a ruse they called “Give Mom a Break,” Kane said.
Recruiting patients into a program or a medical practice of any kind is not permitted in Georgia Medicaid, she said.
Afuapes billed the children’s Medicaid numbers for physical, occupational and speech therapy on a daily basis without regard to whether the services were necessary or whether services were actually delivered, which meant “children genuinely in need of therapy did not receive services, Kane said in a prepared statement.
