US federal authorities have classified an Indian-origin laboratory owner as a fugitive after accusing him of masterminding a sophisticated healthcare fraud scheme that allegedly siphoned more than $93 million (about Rs 889 crore) from the Medicare programme, as per a PTI report.
Khadeer Khan Mohammed, who authorities believe is hiding in Hyderabad, is facing federal criminal charges after a wide-ranging probe conducted by the Office of the Inspector General at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Investigators said Mohammed operated through a company called American Premier to lodge tens of thousands of fraudulent claims for genetic laboratory tests that did not qualify for reimbursement under federal rules.
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The alleged activity took place from August 2023 to October 2024 in the Northern District of Texas and other areas. Prosecutors also allege that he obtained and misused the personal details of doctors without their knowledge, consent or permission.
The probe found that Mohammed allegedly relied on misappropriated details belonging to medical professionals to seek payment for high-value genetic testing. The doctors whose credentials appeared in the claims had never seen the patients, provided treatment to them or ordered the tests.
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Investigators said the test results served no clinical purpose and were never incorporated into patient care, leaving the claims without a legitimate basis.
“As part of the scheme, Mohammed is believed to have used physicians' personal identifying information without their knowledge or consent to submit claims for genetic tests for beneficiaries with whom the physicians had no treatment relationship. These tests were not ordered by the physicians and were not used in the care of the beneficiaries,” according to the Office of the Inspector General at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Over the course of the alleged scheme, American Premier submitted fraudulent claims worth about $93 million to Medicare and received at least $65 million in payments from the government. In just 10 days in 2023, Medicare paid roughly $13 million on claims later identified as false.
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