Indian-origin lab owner sentenced to 27 years in prison for Rs 3850 crore genetic testing scam in US

A person of Indian origin, who owned a laboratory in the US state of Georgia, has been handed a 27-year prison sentence for orchestrating a fraudulent genetic testing scheme that swindled Medicare out of approximately $463 million (around Rs 3,850 crore) over a span of three years.

On Friday, Minal Patel, the owner of LabSolutions LLC, received a formal sentencing of 27 years in prison for his pivotal involvement in deceiving Medicare. The scheme involved submitting over $463 million worth of genetic and various other laboratory tests to Medicare, which were neither necessary nor requested by the patients. These tests were obtained through illicit methods such as kickbacks and bribes.

Teaming with parties such as patient brokers, telemedicine companies, and call centres, 44-year-old Patel engaged in a plot to focus on Medicare beneficiaries using telemarketing calls. These calls deceitfully claimed that the patients' packages covered expensive genetic tests related to cancer. The Department of Justice revealed on Friday that after the beneficiaries agreed to undergo these tests, Patel paid kickbacks and bribes to the patient brokers. This was done to secure signed doctor's orders that authorised the tests, which were then issued by telemedicine companies.

In order to mask the illicit kickbacks, Patel required the patient brokers to enter into contracts falsely representing that they were engaged in legitimate advertising services for LabSolutions.

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"Deception, kickbacks, and bribes have no place in the provision of legitimate genetic testing and telemedicine services to patients who need them," said Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office.

"Patel bilked hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicare through a complex testing fraud scheme. He is now paying the price for this crime," he said.

Between July 2016 and August 2019, LabSolutions submitted claims to Medicare totalling over $463 million. This included claims for thousands of genetic tests that were medically unnecessary. Medicare, the national health insurance program, ended up paying out more than $187 million for these fraudulent claims. During this period, Patel personally profited over $21 million from the fraudulently obtained Medicare funds.

The case was initiated under the banner of Operation Double Helix, a law enforcement effort led by the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, overseen by the Criminal Division's Fraud Section. This operation aimed to target fraudulent practices in the realm of genetic cancer testing. It resulted in legal action being taken against multiple individuals tied to telemedicine firms and genetic testing labs for their alleged participation in what is considered one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes ever uncovered.

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