A Nigerian-American man, Henry Ezeonyido, has been sentenced to over two years in federal prison for masterminding a sophisticated $1 million health insurance fraud scheme that exploited the U.S. medical system with fabricated international treatment claims.
Ezeonyido, 37, of Taunton, Massachusetts—formerly of Brockton—was handed a 27-month prison sentence on Wednesday by Judge Leo T. Sorokin at the U.S. District Court in Boston. In addition to the prison term, he will serve three years of supervised release.
As part of the sentence, Ezeonyido was also ordered to pay $655,313 in restitution to the defrauded insurance companies and to forfeit $396,998 in criminal proceeds, as announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
He had pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud, after being initially arrested in July 2024. He was indicted by a federal grand jury two months later.
Ezeonyido’s downfall stemmed from an elaborate scam carried out between October 2019 and February 2022, in which he filed fraudulent medical insurance claims for himself and at least seven others, including four co-conspirators: Brendon Ashe, Aqiyla Atherton, Darline Cobbler, and Ariel Lambert.
These bogus claims alleged that the individuals had received costly out-of-pocket emergency medical care abroad—treatments for serious incidents such as gunshot wounds, stabbing injuries, and hit-and-run accidents. The deception was carefully choreographed with fake medical records, forged bank statements, and fabricated police reports.
However, investigators uncovered the ruse: most of the supposed patients never left the United States during the time of their alleged injuries. The international hospital visits were pure fiction.
According to court documents, some of the individuals knowingly took part in the scheme, receiving a share of the illicit insurance payouts. Others were deceived into surrendering their insurance information or had it used without their full understanding.
Ezeonyido pocketed nearly $400,000 of the stolen funds himself. Meanwhile, Aqiyla Atherton, one of the key co-defendants, was described as a “recruiter”, actively enlisting others into the fraudulent enterprise in exchange for a cut of their payouts.
While Ezeonyido received a prison sentence, the four co-defendants were handed probationary sentences after pleading guilty.
In a stern rebuke of the crime, U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley remarked: “Fraud schemes like this not only steal from insurance companies but also inflate premiums and healthcare costs for everyone. Today’s sentence underscores our resolve to bring health care fraudsters to justice.”
The case was the result of a coordinated investigation by the FBI’s Boston Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division, and the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie A. Wright of the Health Care Fraud Unit led the prosecution.
This sentencing sends a strong message that the U.S. justice system is committed to rooting out fraud in all its forms, especially schemes that prey on the integrity of the healthcare system.
PIONEER NEWS 