By Isaac Mission
Nigerian-born U.S. entrepreneur Nathan Ogbatue is facing growing scrutiny over tens of millions of dollars paid to his California-based healthcare company by the American government.
Ogbatue, the chief executive officer of California Home Health Agency (CHHA), reportedly received about $36 million through the U.S. healthcare system, even as questions have emerged over the company’s failure to submit mandatory utilisation reports for several years.
CHHA provides services including home healthcare assistance, skilled nursing, physical and occupational therapy, and medical social services, with its operations funded through U.S. taxpayers.
According to a report by the U.S. City State Journal, Ogbatue’s company filed utilisation reports between 2018 and 2021, during which it generated about $2 million. However, the filings reportedly stopped in the years that followed, despite continued requests from California’s Health Care Access and Information Department.
The period in which the reports were no longer filed coincided with a dramatic increase in the company’s reported earnings.
CHHA reportedly generated about $4 million in 2022, followed by approximately $17 million in 2023 and $13 million in 2024.
Property purchases raise further questions
The businessman’s growing wealth was also reflected in his real estate acquisitions.
Reports indicate that Ogbatue’s property purchases expanded significantly around the same period the company stopped submitting the required utilisation reports.
After purchasing a home valued at about $330,000 in 2000, he later acquired several high-value properties reportedly worth millions of dollars. Among them were a $2.7 million mansion, a $1.9 million beach house in Redondo and another property valued at about $1.4 million.
Despite the questions surrounding his company’s financial activities, Ogbatue has denied any wrongdoing.
He told reporters that his wealth came from hard work and maintained that he had nothing to hide.
“If we were doing anything funny, we wouldn’t talk to you,” he said, according to the report.
Ogbatue also suggested that his treatment by investigators could be influenced by his race, questioning why similar scrutiny was not being directed at wealthy white Americans.
He declined to provide an estimate of CHHA’s workforce and referred further questions to his lawyer, Wilfred Aka.
Experts flag unusual billing pattern
Healthcare fraud experts who reviewed information about CHHA raised concerns about the volume of services allegedly billed by the company.
Mark Haskins, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture investigator and fraud specialist, said the company’s reported billing activity appeared inconsistent with the size of its operation.
He also described the failure to submit utilisation reports over an extended period as a significant warning sign, saying such documents would normally help regulators verify information about a healthcare provider’s operations.
Another expert, Haywood Talcove, who heads LexisNexis Risk Solutions for Government, reportedly examined CHHA’s Medicaid data and drew attention to the sharp rise in the volume of services billed.
Talcove said the most striking issue was not necessarily the amount charged per service but the unusually high number of services being claimed.
According to the report, CHHA moved from receiving roughly $500,000 annually in Medi-Cal payments to reaching about $17 million in 2023, while ranking among the highest providers in California for the frequency of certain nursing and home-health claims.
Ogbatue's philanthropy in Anambra
Despite the controversy surrounding his U.S. business, Ogbatue is highly regarded in his hometown of Abatete, Anambra State.
His philanthropy reportedly earned him considerable recognition within the community, including the construction of a large residence and other projects such as houses and roads.
He was subsequently honoured with the traditional title of Owelle.
However, the City State Journal report said questions about the source of his rapidly accumulated wealth remain unanswered.
Ogbatue has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the allegations raised in the report.
The scrutiny comes against the backdrop of wider efforts by U.S. authorities to tackle fraud within the Medicaid and healthcare systems, which have previously resulted in prosecutions involving healthcare professionals and businesses.