An Illinois laboratory owner has been charged with allegedly submitting $66.2 million in fraudulent claims for COVID-19 tests that were never performed, with federal authorities saying the scheme generated millions of dollars in payments from a government health care program.
Rajesh “Raj” Patel, 52, of Schaumburg, was charged with 5 counts of wire fraud in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Patel was the co-owner and chief operating officer of a clinical laboratory in Hillside, Illinois, that processed COVID-19 PCR tests during the pandemic, according to court documents.
Prosecutors allege that between May 2021 and April 2022, Patel created fake negative test results for at least 380,000 tests. The laboratory did not actually perform the tests, and many of the patients whose information was supplied through a staffing company either did not exist or never provided samples, according to the indictment.
The laboratory allegedly used the fabricated results to bill the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Uninsured Program, a federally funded initiative that covered COVID-19 testing for people without health insurance.
The laboratory submitted about $66.2 million in fraudulent claims, of which the program paid approximately $44.1 million, prosecutors said. Patel allegedly personally obtained about $28 million from the scheme.
FBI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Ryan Whalen said federal assistance programs were intended to help vulnerable people during the pandemic and that those receiving government health care funds were expected to bill accurately.
The FBI’s Chicago Field Office and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General investigated the case.
If convicted, Patel faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each of the 5 wire fraud counts. Any sentence would be determined by the court.
The charges remain allegations. Patel is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.