Nigeria: Nigerian jailed in U.S. for over $1M insurance scam

By Zuleihat Owuiye, Mamos Nigeria

A U.S. District Court has sentenced 37-year-old Nigerian man, Henry Ezeonyido, to 27 months in prison for orchestrating a large-scale insurance fraud that ran from late 2019 to early 2022.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ezeonyido submitted a series of false health insurance claims, pretending to have suffered severe injuries while traveling abroad. These claims—filed with five different insurance companies—included reports of stabbings, gunshot wounds, and hit-and-run accidents. However, investigations later revealed that Ezeonyido and others involved were actually in the United States when these supposed incidents occurred.

But he didn’t act alone. Authorities say he also filed similar fraudulent claims on behalf of at least seven other individuals. Four of them—Brendon Ashe, Aqiyla Atherton, Darline Cobbler, and Ariel Lambert—pleaded guilty and received probation.

To support the false claims, Ezeonyido went as far as fabricating medical records, bank statements, and even police reports. In total, the insurance companies were duped into paying out more than $655,000. Ezeonyido personally pocketed nearly $397,000 in the scheme, with some of his collaborators allegedly giving him kickbacks from the payouts.

After being indicted in September 2024, Ezeonyido eventually pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and six counts of health care fraud. In addition to his prison sentence, he must also serve three years under supervision upon release and repay the $655,313 in fraudulent gains, alongside forfeiting the money he made from the scam.