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Nigerian traditional ruler found guilty of fraud in the US
A traditional ruler in Imo State, Dr. Ekelekamchukwu Alphonsus Ngwadom, has been convicted and sentenced for committing Medicaid fraud in the United States after billing dozens of minors for therapy they never received.
Ekelekamchukwu, 61, is a Psychotherapist and Professor of Psychology and Sociology at University of Mount Olive, North Carolina, USA.
He was crowned the king of Mbubu, Amiri Kingdom in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State in 2021 after the passing of his father.
US Attorney General Jeff Jackson, announced on January 13, 2025 that Ngwadom pled guilty to 27 counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.
Ngwadom was sentenced to 12-34 months, suspended for 36 months of supervised probation, which carried a 90-day house arrest and a payment of $72,014.66 in restitution.
“When people defraud the Medicaid program, they are stealing money from North Carolina taxpayers and from those who rely on this care. My office will not allow it, and we’re going to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to prevent fraud,” Jackson said.
Between February 18, 2020 and March 18, 2021, Ngwadom submitted $72,014.66 in fraudulent claims to Alliance Health, a North Carolina health insurance company that services state-funded plans and Medicaid, for providing behavioral health services to 27 Medicaid patients, including children, that were never provided.
Alliance Health paid Ngwadom the money, however, the integrity section of Alliance Health flagged the payment and the attorney general’s Medicaid Integrity Division (MID) began investigating.
Ngwadom was charged on January 30, 2025, three years after a probe by the N.C. Department of Justice and the State Bureau of Investigation, court documents show.
The investigation began after Alliance Health, which manages public behavioral health care for multiple Triangle-area counties, reported in 2020 that one of Almarch Counseling’s clients appeared to have overlapping services from two different providers, according to a search warrant.
The parents of the minor client told investigators they’d never received services from Ngwadom or Almarch, but records showed Ngwadom had submitted 52 claims for that family’s two children between January and October 2020.
Tracy Grimes, a prosecutor for the N.C. Attorney General’s Office, said in court that Ngwadom billed the minors for services he’d purportedly provided as part of an after-school program, but that program was not running because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He’d actually met the clients while participating in the program from 2016 to 2019, she said.
Families who spoke to investigators also reported Ngwadom would come to their house to offer services, but they would decline, Grimes said.
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Breaking: Court of Appeal rules in favour of Turaki -led PDP candidate for Osun governorship election
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Thursday, ruled that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Gubernatorial Candidate in Osun State was validly nominated by the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee.
The court also ordered INEC to list the PDP logo on the ballot ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
The Court held that access code is neither a creation of the Constitution nor the Electoral Act; rather, a creation of INEC’s guidelines and cannot, in any way, override the provisions of the Constitution.
Section 288 of the Constitution does not specify the method for nominating candidates; it only states that the names of candidates should be forwarded to the Commission.
The court further held that the defendant (INEC) should take steps to include the name of the appellant on the ballot paper.
Additionally, the court ruled that the primary election conducted by the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP was a valid primary election in law.
The three-man panel of justices—Justice Mahmud, Justice Jaro, and Justice Ankawere, was unanimous in its judgment.
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Breaking: NHRC sets up situation room to monitor and document hate speech, intimidation, threat to life ahead 2027
The national Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has set up a situation room to monitor and document all incidences of hate speech, intimidation and threat to life by politicians and other actors ahead of the 2027 general election.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concerns over rising incidences of hate speech, intimidation and outright threat to life by highly placed individuals, especially politicians and religious leaders.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chef Tony Ojukwu, SAN, revealed this on Thursday in Abuja at a press conference.
He said the situation room would enable the Commission harvest data, analysis and document persons, agencies and others involved in the negative statements in order to ensure they are properly tracked and brought to book by relevant agencies.
Ojukwu also took journalists on a tour of the newly set up situation room.
Details later…..
News
Breaking: NHRC expresses concern over rising incidences of hate speech, threat to life ahead 2027 elections
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concerns over rising incidences of hate speech, intimidation and outright threat to life by highly placed individuals, especially politicians and religious leaders.
At a press conference in Abuja Thursday, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chef Tony Ojukwu, SAN, recalled statements credited to Senator Francis Fadahunsi and Sheikh Yahya Jingir and described the das dangerous with capacity to set the nation ablaze.
He called on politicians, religious and traditional rulers, among other stakeholders to call their supporters and faithful to orders.
He urged government to act before rhetorics turn to violence, saying the forthcoming election in Osun State should serve as example of Nigeria’s capacity to conduct political contest in compliance with international best practices.
Details later…..
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