A Nigerian traditional ruler and United States–based academic, Prof. Ekelekamchukwu Alphonsus Ngwadom, has been convicted and sentenced by a court in North Carolina for defrauding the Medicaid system of more than $70,000.
Ngwadom, 61, a licensed psychotherapist and professor of psychology and sociology at the University of Mount Olive, pleaded guilty to 27 counts of obtaining property by false pretences after admitting to billing Medicaid for therapy services that were never provided to minors.
The conviction was announced on January 13, 2025, by North Carolina Attorney General, Jeff Jackson. According to court records, Ngwadom was sentenced to between 12 and 34 months in prison, a term that was suspended in favour of three years of supervised probation. The sentence includes 90 days of house arrest, 100 hours of community service, and restitution totaling $72,014.66.
Prosecutors said the offences occurred between February 18, 2020, and March 18, 2021, when Ngwadom submitted fraudulent claims to Alliance Health, a North Carolina-based organisation that manages Medicaid and other state-funded health plans. The claims were filed under his private practice, Almarch Counseling Services, for behavioural health services allegedly rendered to 27 Medicaid beneficiaries, many of them children.
Although Alliance Health initially paid the claims, its internal integrity unit flagged irregularities, prompting an investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Integrity Division in collaboration with the State Bureau of Investigation. Authorities later discovered that some of the children billed for services had never received treatment from Ngwadom.
In one instance, parents of minor clients told investigators they had never engaged Ngwadom or his practice, despite records showing that 52 claims had been submitted in their children’s names within a 10-month period in 2020. Prosecutors also revealed that some of the services were supposedly linked to an after-school programme that was not operational during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing the court, prosecutor Tracy Grimes noted that the fraudulent claims not only siphoned public funds but also interfered with the affected children’s access to legitimate mental health care from their actual providers.
Ngwadom’s defence counsel, Lauren Toole, told the court that her client’s actions followed severe financial strain caused by the pandemic, which ultimately led to the foreclosure of his home. She said Ngwadom had accepted responsibility for his actions and was taking steps to make restitution, including taking out a second mortgage on his home.
During sentencing, Ngwadom apologised to the court, describing his conduct as uncharacteristic. The presiding judge, Winston Gilchrist, rejected the prosecution’s request for a custodial sentence but warned that Ngwadom would face up to three years in prison if he violated the terms of his probation. The court also ordered him to pay at least $45,000 of the restitution by January 21, 2026.
As part of his plea agreement, Ngwadom surrendered his professional counselling licences and has since secured alternative employment.
Beyond his academic and professional career in the US, Ngwadom is a traditional ruler in Nigeria. He was crowned king of Mbubu, Amiri Kingdom in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State in April 2021, following the death of his father, the late Eze Alphonsus Ngwadom. His coronation had been met with optimism within the community, where he was described as educated and capable of driving development.
Ngwadom also serves as chairman of the African Diaspora Coalition of North Carolina and previously held leadership roles in several mental health organisations before his conviction.