A Kenyan man convicted on 11 counts of medical-aid fraud is facing up to 16 and a half years in prison, a verdict that will be known on June 16.
According to a statement by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, David Mungai Njenga was found guilty on all counts this week by a King County jury for leading a criminal syndicate that involved setting up an illegitimate nurse staffing company to supply nursing homes and long-term care facilities with imposter nurses using stolen identities and credentials of real nurses.
On one count, he was found guilty of leading organised crime, a class A felony in the US, and the first Medicaid fraud trial in Washington state history involving the charge of leading organised crime for having intentionally organised, managed, directed, supervised, or financed any three or more persons with the intent to engage in a pattern of criminal profiteering activity.
The jury also found him guilty of five counts of first-degree identity theft, one count of second-degree identity theft, three counts of first-degree theft, and one count of second-degree theft.
“Njenga created an illegitimate nurse staffing agency called Heritage Medical Staffing, Inc., based in Kent, to supply nursing homes and long-term care facilities with imposter nurses using identities and credentials of real nurses that he stole.”
“The nursing homes paid Njenga for what they thought were real licensed nurses. Njenga kept most of that money for himself, paying the imposter nurses far below what real nurses would be paid. At some of the nursing homes, the unqualified nurses displayed a lack of basic healthcare knowledge, such as how to take someone’s blood pressure, and dispensed the wrong medication, putting the health of residents at risk,” the statement said.
The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud and Abuse (MFA) Division of the state Attorney General’s Office, Washington’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
“This verdict is the result of our team’s commitment to cracking down on Medicaid fraud and ensuring the safety of our health system. We are gratified to get justice for the many people harmed and put at risk by these crimes,” Attorney General Nick Brown added.
Njenga’s fraudulent activities were discovered after a woman was charged in 2019 by the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office for using fake identification documents to claim to be a licensed registered nurse.
The woman was found to have previously worked for Njenga and received the stolen documents while working for him.
“Between May 2017 and October 2019, Njenga ran a multifaceted criminal enterprise by obtaining the identification of five real licensed nurses in Washington state and creating a series of fake IDs using one person’s fingerprints.”
“Through his first company, Heritage Medical Staffing, which he later renamed to Pro Med Alliance Medical Staffing, Inc., Njenga recruited unlicensed or unqualified people and presented them as qualified licensed nurses to long-term care facilities in Yakima, Bothell, Redmond, Shoreline, Vashon Island, North Bend, and elsewhere,” the statement adds.
He will therefore be sentenced on June 16 in King County Superior Court, for the crimes that may see him receive a prison sentence ranging between 12 years and 16.5 years and up to $50,000 in financial penalties.
An arrest warrant is also in effect for his co-defendant in the case, one Everlyn Njuki, who was not included in the trial as she has left the country.
The court further ruled in favour of MFA and ordered each of Njenga's companies, Heritage Medical Staffing and Pro Med Alliance Medical Staffing, to pay $40,500.
The recovered funds will go towards funding the activities of the MFA.
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