Four Charged in $1 Million Insurance Fraud Scheme Involving Phony Foreign Gun Shot Wounds, Stabbings

Four individuals from Massachusetts and New York face charges in connection with a health care fraud scheme that allegedly involved submitting false insurance claims for more than $1 million in medical expenses purportedly incurred during international travel, federal prosecutors said Monday.

The phony medical events the individuals claimed to have had while traveling overseas were no run-of-the-mill visits to the doctor’s office.

According to the Department of Justice, the suspects fabricated gun shot wounds, hit-and-run accidents, and stabbings as part of a scheme to collect unwarranted payouts from insurers.

Henry Ezeonyido, 36, of Brockton, Massachusetts, has been indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Brendon Ashe, 40, of Dorchester, Massachusetts; Darline Cobbler, 40, of Randolph, Massachusetts; and Ariel Lambert, 34, of Brooklyn, New York, have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, prosecutors said.

The charges stem from a scheme allegedly orchestrated between October 2019 and February 2022, during which Ezeonyido and others are accused of submitting fraudulent health insurance claims for medical treatments supposedly received overseas.

According to court documents, many of the claims were based on fabricated stories of wildly traumatic injuries, which supposedly required hospitalization abroad.

Ezeonyido is accused of submitting forged medical and bank records, along with fabricated police reports, to support the false claims. Prosecutors allege that, in some cases, health insurance companies were billed over $1 million for services that were never rendered. Ashe, Cobbler, Lambert, and others are alleged to have shared portions of the insurance payouts with Ezeonyido and other conspirators.

Each charge of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison, along with a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the financial gain from the offense. Sentencing will be determined by a federal judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy announced the charges alongside officials from the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Insurance Fraud Bureau. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Wright of the Health Care Fraud Unit.