Indian-origin lab owner wanted in US for alleged $93 million Medicare fraud

An Indian-origin individual has been declared a fugitive in the U.S. after allegedly defrauding the Medicare healthcare scheme of $93 million by submitting false claims for genetic tests.

The Department of Health and Human Services said Khadeer Khan Mohammed purportedly submitted, or directed others to submit, claims for laboratory genetic testing ineligible for reimbursement.

Over the course of the conspiracy, Mohammed used American Premier to submit approximately $93 million in alleged fraudulent Medicare claims, resulting in payments of at least $65 million, the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services said.

In 10 days in 2023 alone, Medicare paid approximately $13 million in suspected fraudulent claims.

According to the Department of Health, Mohammed is believed to be in Hyderabad, India.

It said from about August 2023 to October 2024, in the Northern District of Texas and elsewhere, Mohammed allegedly 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," the Department of Health said.