Nita Palma Sentenced to 9 Years in Federal Prison for $10.6 Million Medicare Hospice Fraud
Nita Almuete Paddit Palma, owner of California-based Magnolia Gardens Hospice and C@A Hospice, was sentenced to 108 months (9 years) in federal prison for orchestrating a massive Medicare hospice billing fraud.
In 2024, Palma was convicted on 12 counts of health care fraud and 16 counts of illegal kickbacks related to a scheme that generated approximately $10.6 million in false claims since 2015. She was also ordered to pay more than $8.27 million in restitution.
Palma illegally paid marketers for patient referrals, including Percy Dean Abram, who received $6,000 monthly for each month patient referrals were generated. Abram was sentenced to 3 years probation with 2 years home confinement after being convicted on six counts of receiving illegal kickbacks.
The Department of Justice revealed that Abram falsely assured patients they did not have to be terminally ill to qualify for hospice care. He collected personal data from ineligible patients and passed it to Palma to submit fraudulent Medicare claims.
Palma concealed her ownership of Magnolia Gardens and C@A Hospices from Medicare by using family members’ names. Some patients were unaware they were enrolled in hospice, and many were ineligible. Despite a prior Medicare ban due to earlier kickback violations, Palma continued fraudulent operations through additional hospices, submitting nearly $4.8 million in false claims while awaiting trial.
This extensive investigation was led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the FBI, with prosecutions led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roger Hsieh and Matt Coe-Odess.
