Lab owner gets 27 years in prison for $463M Medicare fraud scheme
Minal Patel, 44, of Atlanta has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for orchestrating a scheme that defrauded Medicare of more than $463 million through unnecessary genetic and laboratory tests, according to a new statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Patel was the owner of LabSolutions, a genetic testing company operating out of Georgia. The company was registered with Medicare to perform sophisticated genetic testing. Court documents reveal that Patel collaborated with patient brokers, telemedicine firms and call centers to target Medicare beneficiaries, promising to cover certain genetic tests for cancer. Patel paid kickbacks and bribes to patient brokers to obtain fraudulent doctors' orders from telemedicine companies, authorizing the costly genetic tests even when not medically required.
Between July 2016 and August 2019, LabSolutions submitted over $463 million in claims to Medicare, receiving over $187 million in payouts. According to details from sentencing, Patel personally profited more than $21 million from the fraudulent scheme during this period.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri highlighted the verdict's significance, stating in a release that it "demonstrates the Criminal Division’s ongoing commitment to fighting telemedicine and genetic testing fraud that exploits patients and drains health care benefit programs.”
Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office praised the collaboration between his agency and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General that led to Patel's arrest and trial.
"Patel bilked hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicare through a complex testing fraud scheme. He is now paying the price for this crime," Veltri said.
The LabSolutions case was part of Operation Double Helix, a joint effort by the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and the Health Care Fraud Strike Force to combat fraudulent genetic cancer testing. The initiative has led to charges against numerous individuals tied to telemedicine firms and cancer genetic testing labs.
An asset forfeiture hearing related to the case is scheduled for August 25.
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