The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has implicated a Texas clinical laboratory owner and operator in a $79 million respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) testing fraud scheme.
Named in the case November 20 are Osman Syed, an Indian national, and BioDX Labs. Osman is charged with three counts of healthcare fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and three counts of money laundering.
The DOJ alleged that Osman used the personal identifying information of a physician, without the physician’s knowledge or consent, to cause the submission of claims to Medicare and Medicaid for RPP tests for beneficiaries and recipients, even though the physician had no prior relationship with the patients, was not treating them for respiratory symptoms, and did not use the tests to treat the patients.
To conceal that BioDX did not perform the tests as billed, Osman falsely represented that BioDX used reference laboratories to perform its testing, the DOJ said. Osman and his co-conspirators laundered the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme, according to the DOJ, by transferring substantial sums to bank accounts abroad, including accounts in China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Greece, and Switzerland. In connection with the charges, the government seized over $15 million in cash.
If convicted, Syed faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on each count.
