BOSTON, MA – A United States District Court has sentenced a 37-year-old Nigerian man, Henry Ezeonyido, to 27 months in prison for orchestrating a $1 million health insurance fraud scheme.
According to a statement released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice, Ezeonyido committed the fraud between October 2019 and February 2022. During that period, he submitted bogus health insurance claims to five companies, falsely claiming to have suffered injuries in a series of overseas accidents.
Investigations revealed that Ezeonyido also filed fraudulent claims on behalf of seven other individuals, including co-conspirators Brendon Ashe, Aqiyla Atherton, Darline Cobbler, and Ariel Lambert. The claims featured fabricated stories of traumatic injuries such as stabbings, gunshot wounds, and hit-and-run accidents, all allegedly requiring treatment abroad — while the individuals were actually in the U.S.
To support the fraudulent claims, Ezeonyido created fake medical documents, doctored bank statements, and forged police reports. The insurance companies ended up paying approximately $655,313 in claims. Part of the proceeds was kicked back to Ezeonyido by those he helped.
Ezeonyido was arrested in July 2024 and indicted by a federal grand jury two months later. His co-defendants pleaded guilty and received probation.
In February 2025, Ezeonyido pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud. He was sentenced by Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $655,313 in restitution and forfeit $396,998 in fraud proceeds.
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