Fourth Defendant Pleads Guilty in $7 Million COVID-19 Testing Fraud
Summary
A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas dated Thursday, September 14, 2023, announcing that Terrance Barnard, 40, of Irving, indicted in December, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft. It states that he submitted fraudulent insurance claims for COVID-19 testing, resulting in a more than $7 million loss to insurers. The release describes him as the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the case, announced by U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton.
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Press Release Fourth Defendant Pleads Guilty in $7 Million COVID-19 Testing Fraud Thursday, September 14, 2023 For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas An Irving man pleaded guilty today to submitting fraudulent insurance claims for COVID-19 testing, resulting in a more than $7 million loss to insurers, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. Terrance Barnard, 40, was indicted in December. He pleaded guilty today to Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft and Aiding and Abetting Aggravated Identity Theft before U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez. According to plea papers, Mr. Barnard admitted that he and his coconspirators accessed private patient information – including names, dates of birth, and insurance subscriber numbers – through various clinics where Barnard worked as a contract lab technician. Mr. Barnard admitted that on some occasions, he took photographs of patient information and stored the images on “burner” phones, and on other occasions, he and a coconspirator accessed the clinics’ confidential electronic medical records to obtain large amounts of patient information at once. They then used the patient information to submit claims to insurance providers – including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, United Healthcare, Aetna, Humana, and Molina Health Care – for COVID-19 testing that was never performed. (The patients had not requested COVID-19 testing, nor were they aware their information was being used to submit claims.) Mr. Barnard admitted that the “labs” at which the coconspirators claimed the testing occurred, including TC Diagnostics, ME Diagnostics, and PHR Diagnostics, were, in fact, shell entities that never operated as labs. Collectively, these three entities submitted approximately $30 million in claims and were paid more than $7 million in reimbursements for fake testing. Mr. Barnard now faces up to seven years in federal prison. According to the terms of his plea agreement, he has agreed to a $7.29 million forfeiture money judgment and will forfeit a number of items seized during the investigation, including $2.5 million in funds from numerous bank accounts, two residences, six vehicles, and six luxury watches. Also charged in the scheme are Connie Jo Clampitt, 52, William Paul Gray, 50, and Don Hogg, 37. Clampitt, Hogg and Gray have each pled guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in November 2023. The Dallas Regional Office of the United States Department of Labor – Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Dallas Office of the Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, the Texas Department of Insurance Fraud Unit's Fort Worth Field Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Hunter is prosecuting the case; Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha is handling the forfeiture. For more information about the Justice Department’s response to wrongdoing connected to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus . Updated August 7, 2024 Topics Coronavirus Health Care Fraud Identity Theft Component USAO - Texas, Northern Related Content Press Release Four Individuals Charged in Northern District of Texas with Health Care Fraud Schemes Totaling over $210 Million as part of National Takedown The Justice Department today announced the results of its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants, including 96 doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and... July 1, 2025 Press Release Fort Worth man who attempted to apply for two passports with stolen identities sentenced to over eight years in federal prison A Fort Worth man who attempted to apply for two passports with stolen identities was sentenced Wednesday to over eight years in federal prison. June 26, 2025 Press Release Founder of Lender Service Provider Convicted for Role in Multimillion-Dollar PPP Fraud Scheme A federal jury convicted Stephanie Hockridge, a founder of the lender service provider Blueacorn, on Friday in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain tens of millions of dollars in... June 23, 2025
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