In a shocking case of healthcare fraud, an Indian-origin lab owner from Georgia was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in a $463 million genetic testing scam that targeted Medicare beneficiaries. Minal Patel, who owned LabSolutions LLC, conspired with patient brokers, telemedicine companies and call centres to trick elderly and disabled patients into agreeing to take unnecessary and expensive genetic tests for cancer.
How the scam worked
According to the Department of Justice, Patel and his co-conspirators used telemarketing calls to contact Medicare beneficiaries and falsely claimed that their package covered genetic tests related to cancer. The callers often pretended to be from Medicare or a medical provider and used scare tactics to persuade the patients to take the tests.
After the patients agreed, Patel paid kickbacks and bribes to patient brokers to obtain signed doctors’ orders authorising the tests from telemedicine companies. The patient brokers then collected saliva samples from the patients and sent them to LabSolutions for testing. Patel also required the patient brokers to sign contracts that falsely stated that they were performing legitimate advertising services for LabSolutions.
From July 2016 to August 2019, LabSolutions submitted more than $463 million in claims to Medicare, including for thousands of medically unnecessary genetic tests, of which Medicare paid over $187 million. Patel personally received over $21 million from Medicare in connection with the fraud.
The consequences
Patel was arrested in September 2019 and pleaded guilty in February 2020 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks. He was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the Southern District of Florida to 27 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $187 million in restitution and forfeit $21 million.
“Minal Patel’s greed-driven scheme exploited vulnerable patients and bilked taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The department will continue to hold accountable those who seek personal enrichment by undermining the integrity of federal health care programs.”
The case was part of Operation Double Helix, a federal law enforcement action led by the Health Care Fraud Strike Force under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. It focused on fraudulent genetic cancer testing, resulting in charges against dozens of defendants associated with telemedicine companies and cancer genetic testing laboratories for their alleged participation in one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes ever charged.
Sources:
(1) Indian-origin lab owner gets 27 years jail for $463 million genetic .... https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/indian-origin-lab-owner-27-years-jail-genetic-testing-scam-us-2423506-2023-08-19.
(2) Indian-origin lab owner sentenced to 27 years in prison for Rs 3850 .... https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/indian-origin-lab-owner-sentenced-to-27-years-in-prison-for-rs-3850-crore-genetic-testing-scam-in-us-394742-2023-08-19.
(3) Indian-origin lab owner gets 27 years jail for committing $463 million .... https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/us-news/indian-origin-lab-owner-gets-27-years-jail-for-committing-463-dollars-million-biotech-fraud-in-the-us-articleshow.html.
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