<p>Federal prosecutors have charged Rajesh “Raj” Patel, 52, of Schaumburg, Illinois, with five counts of wire fraud in an indictment alleging a COVID-19 testing scheme that billed the US government about $66.2 million for tests that were never performed, the US Department of Justice said. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. An indictment contains allegations only, and Patel is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.</p><p>According to the Justice Department, Patel was a co-owner and the chief operating officer of a clinical laboratory in Hillside, Illinois, that processed COVID-19 PCR tests during the pandemic. Around March 2021, the laboratory hired Meridian Medical Staffing to collect test specimens and patient information, paying the company tens of millions of dollars, prosecutors say. The indictment alleges that many of those patients never existed or never provided specimens to Meridian.</p><p>Between May 2021 and April 2022, Patel allegedly created fake negative results for at least 380,000 PCR tests on specimens supplied through Meridian, even though the laboratory never performed the tests, according to the indictment as reported by the Justice Department and TradersUnion's summary of the federal announcement. Prosecutors allege the laboratory submitted about $66.2 million in claims to the federal programme that covered COVID-19 testing for uninsured patients and received about $44.1 million, and that Patel personally received about $28 million from the scheme.</p><p>“This defendant allegedly exploited a global crisis for personal gain, fabricating hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests – then billing the taxpayer for it,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's Fraud Division. The case was investigated by the FBI's Chicago Field Office and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Justice Department said. Sources: US Department of Justice announcement reported by Rockford News First (Oct. 20); TradersUnion summary of the DOJ indictment (Oct. 20); Chicago News Post (Oct. 20).</p>
Schaumburg Lab Owner Charged in Alleged $66.2 Million COVID-19 Testing Fraud; Prosecutors Say 380,000 Fake Results Were Billed
A federal grand jury in Chicago has charged Rajesh “Raj” Patel, 52, of Schaumburg, with five counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors allege his Hillside laboratory billed a federal programme about $66.2 million for COVID-19 tests that were never performed and was paid about $44.1 million. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
