Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to $14M COVID-19 Fraud Scheme
Summary
A press release of the Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs dated Monday, September 30, 2024, announcing that Zishan Alvi, 45, of Inverness, owner of a laboratory in Chicago that performed COVID-19 testing, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. According to court documents cited in the release, from February 2021 through February 2022 he caused claims to be submitted to the Health Resources and Services Administration for COVID-19 tests that were not performed as billed, while the laboratory released negative results for specimens it had not tested or whose results were inconclusive. It states that HRSA paid the laboratory over $14 million as a result of the claims. The release states that he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Full text
Press Release Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to $14M COVID-19 Fraud Scheme Monday, September 30, 2024 For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs An Illinois man pleaded guilty today for his role in a COVID-19 testing fraud scheme. According to court documents, Zishan Alvi, 45, of Inverness, owned and operated a laboratory in Chicago that performed testing for COVID-19. From February 2021 through February 2022, Alvi caused claims to be submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for COVID-19 tests that were not performed as billed. As part of the scheme, the laboratory released negative COVID-19 test results to patients, even though the laboratory either had not actually tested the specimens or the results were inconclusive. Alvi knew that the laboratory was releasing negative results for tests that were not performed or were inconclusive, but still caused the laboratory to submit claims to HRSA for those tests. HRSA paid the laboratory over $14 million as a result of the fraudulent claims Alvi caused to be submitted to HRSA. Alvi pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois; Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement. The FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case. Trial Attorney Claire T. Sobczak of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Misty Wright for the Northern District of Illinois are prosecuting the case. The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit . Updated February 6, 2025 Topics Coronavirus Health Care Fraud Components Criminal Division Criminal - Criminal Fraud Section USAO - Illinois, Northern Press Release Number: 24-1235 Related Content Press Release Texas Pharmacist Sentenced to Over 17 Years in Prison and Ordered to Forfeit $405M in Assets for Defrauding the Department of Labor On Feb. 21, Texas pharmacist Dehshid “David” Nourian, 62, of Plano, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison and ordered to pay over $115 million in restitution... March 10, 2025 Press Release Lab Operator Convicted of $4M Medicare Fraud Scheme A federal jury in Detroit convicted a California man today for his role in defrauding Medicare of over $4 million in fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary urine drug testing for... February 25, 2025 Press Release Vice President of Health Care Software and Services Company Pleads Guilty to $1B Health Care Fraud Conspiracy A Kansas man pleaded guilty today to operating an internet-based platform that generated false doctors’ orders to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs of more than $1... February 20, 2025
File and source
- File
- archives-opa-pr-lab-owner-pleads-guilty-14m-covid-19-fraud-scheme.html
- Size
- 84,785 bytes
- SHA-256
- abb1c3cee102c61f778d3a4eb51437a7575518df94317dc7ae1a9efc0d4e9200
- Original
- www.justice.gov