Opinion ID: 873684
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Materiality to Medicare of State Regulatory

Text: Compliance Ajoku was charged in count one with falsifying, concealing, or covering up that Santos maintained and UNITED STATES V . AJOKU 9 distributed syringes outside his presence and control. A statement is material if it has “a natural tendency to influence, or be capable of influencing, the decision of the decisionmaking body to which it was addressed.” United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506, 509 (1995) (quoting Kungys v. United States, 485 U.S. 759, 770 (1988)). The jury heard sufficient evidence that Ajoku’s statements and concealment were addressed to Medicare. Among other things, Ajoku concedes that some of his statements to investigators were directed to Medicare. His other statements included his application for the exemptee license, the annual renewals, and his participation in a regulatory compliance inspection. This license was sent to Medicare on four occasions. Further, there was evidence that Ajoku’s statements and concealments had the ability to influence Medicare: Medicare officials would not have paid Santos’s billing claims had it been informed that Ajoku was not exercising exemptee responsibility over medical devices, like feeding syringes.