King and Queen to Be Sentenced For Stealing $1.8 Million

A San Fernando Valley pair face sentencing this fall for filing more than $1.8 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare -- almost entirely for medically unnecessary power wheelchairs.

Queen Anieze-Smith, 53, of Woodland Hills, and Abdul King Garba, 49, of Van Nuys, were each convicted Tuesday of five counts of health care fraud following a nine-day trial before U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The couple -- who operated ITC Medical Supply in Van Nuys -- billed Medicare for beneficiaries often recruited off the street who were mobile and didn’t need the equipment, evidence showed.

As part of their scheme, Anieze-Smith and Garba falsified paperwork required by Medicare and sometimes failed to deliver the power wheelchairs altogether, raking in nearly $900,000 for the bogus claims, federal prosecutors said.

As a result of the guilty verdicts, Anieze-Smith and Garba each face up to 50 years in federal prison when they are sentenced by Gee at a date to be determined this fall.

--City News Service; Patch Image Archive

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