Health Fraud: Kenyan Man in US Convicted for Deploying Fake Nurses to Care Facilities
A Kenyan man living in Washington State has been convicted of running a fraudulent nursing scheme that placed unqualified workers in healthcare facilities across the region.
David Mungai Njenga, a resident of Kent, was found guilty on 11 counts, including leading organised crime, identity theft, and theft. Prosecutors said Njenga operated a staffing agency that used stolen identities of licensed nurses to send impostors into hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care centres between 2017 and 2019.
The agency, first registered as Heritage Medical Staffing, Inc. and later renamed Pro Med Alliance Medical Staffing, Inc., placed individuals with no nursing qualifications in patient care roles. Investigators reported that some workers could not perform basic tasks such as taking blood pressure, while others gave incorrect medication, putting elderly and medically fragile patients at risk.
Court records show Njenga profited by billing facilities for services supposedly provided by qualified nurses, keeping most of the payments while the impostors received only a fraction of the wages. The fraudulent placements affected facilities in Bothell, North Bend, Redmond, Shoreline, Vashon Island, and Yakima.
Njenga was convicted of one count of leading organised crime, five counts of first-degree identity theft, one count of second-degree identity theft, three counts of first-degree theft, and one count of second-degree theft. He faces a possible prison sentence of 12 to 16½ years and fines of up to $50,000. Sentencing is scheduled for 16 June in King County Superior Court.
In addition to the criminal case, the Washington State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division secured default judgments totalling $40,500 against both staffing companies. Attorney General Nick Brown described the verdict as a significant step in protecting patient safety and combating Medicaid fraud.
Njenga’s conviction comes months after another Kenyan national, Christine Nyambura Muturi, was arrested for impersonating a nurse in hospice care. Investigators discovered that the licence she used predated her birth, exposing further weaknesses in credential verification systems.
