Kenyan fraudster nurse lived in Hollywood mansion featured in TV film
In
the second and final part of this series on how a Kenyan family stole Sh16
billion from American taxpayers by filing false claims on a medical scheme
intended for elderly poor US citizens, we explain how Faith Newton, a nurse,
ran a parallel scam that mirrored an earlier one executed by her husband, and
which managed to steal three times the amount stolen by her husband before he
was arrested.
A
10,777-square-foot red brick mansion sprawls across six acres of lush green
lawn in North Andover, Massachusetts, in the United States, and is so
well-known across the world’s richest country that some realtors have dubbed it
“the most popular house in America.”
440
Great Pond Road, as the property is known, can be described as a mansion,
castle, or an over-the-top piece of real estate fit for celebrities or anyone
with an endless supply of cash, with nine bedrooms, six fireplaces, a four-car
garage, a gourmet kitchen, a helicopter landing pad, and a backyard overlooking
Lake Cochichewick.
The
colonial-style property is so popular that in 2013, American cable TV channel
HBO chose it as the major site for their comedy film Clear History, starring
Hollywood actor Larry David, piqued the interest of news networks.
However,
despite its $2 million price tag and location hundreds of kilometers away from
Hollywood, where it would have been simpler to find a buyer, the mansion
remained unsold for years.
On
March 10, 2016, the agents selling it reported that they had found a buyer.
It
wasn’t a star or a well-known entrepreneur. It was a Kenyan nurse. Faith Newton
Kimaru, 56, had arrived in the United States years before to care for the
elderly and appeared to have discovered her American dream—or so she believed.
First,
she splashed $150,000 (Sh18 million) on a brand-new, white Italian-made
Maserati Granturismo, with a 4.8-litre V8 engine that can accelerate from zero
to 100km per hour in just 4.7 seconds.
Then
she paid for the house in full through a $2,012,177 (Sh242,688,667) wire
transfer from her Bank of America account to lawyer Robert Wyman, who then
forwarded the money to property manager Anthony Dinapoli.
Mr
Dinapoli had bought the property in 2002 for $2 million and spent over a decade
expanding and refurbishing it with the hope of making a killing.
But
after failing to find a buyer, he settled for selling it for whatever price he
could as long as it was not lower than what he had paid for it.
Around
the time the mansion was listed for sale, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) was closing in on Faith’s husband, Francis Nderitu Kimaru, a Kenyan who
was wanted for fraud.
Compassionate
Homecare LLC, a company founded by the couple in 2010, is suspected of
receiving $34 million (Sh4.1 billion) in fake claims to a medical insurance
system intended for the elderly, unwell, and destitute Americans.
With
his passport frozen and unable to fly to Kenya, where he could have at least
sought to elude American law enforcement, Mr Kimaru chose to engage into a plea
bargain agreement with the US authorities.
Instead
of hiding, his wife, who had not been arrested for the scam, created a parallel
scheme based on the same techniques she had learned over time. From 2010 until
January of this year, the family is claimed to have stolen $134 million (Sh16
billion).
Faith
defrauded $100 million (Sh12 billion) via a network of recruiters, mules, and
money launderers through Arbor Homecare Services LLC, a company she founded in
February 2013 and controlled until her arrest last year.
Arbor,
like her husband’s company, Compassionate Homecare, which was also based in
Massachusetts and had been in business for three years, marketed itself as a
homecare facility that provided services to the elderly.
Unlike
Compassionate Homecare, which identified both Faith and her husband as
directors, Arbor Homecare listed Benjamin Njoroge Muiruri as the sole
proprietor.
The
firm was established in February 2013 with the registration number 454320346
and the physical address 3 Court House Lane, Unit 9.
In
fact, no one knew Faith was associated with Arbor Homecare until she and her
staff Winnie Waruru were jailed.
“Faith
Newton was part owner and operator of Arbor Homecare Services LLC. Waruru was a
licensed practical nurse employed as a home health nurse at Arbor. The two
engaged in a conspiracy to use Arbor to defraud Medicare of at least $100
million,” said the US Department of Justice after their arrest.
Arbor’s
business model was quite similar to Compassionate Homecare’s. The plan was to
collect as much money as possible by filing fraudulent reimbursement claims to
the US Medicaid program on behalf of non-existent patients.
The
program is handled indirectly through certified medical professionals and is
funded by states and the federal government.