Feds recover $1.5 million of alleged $43 million COVID-19 Medicare fraud case – WISN Milwaukee

Feds recover $1.5 million of alleged $43 million COVID-19 Medicare fraud case

12 News Investigates has learned the Department of Justice and FBI are closing in on companies accused of billing Medicare for COVID-19 test kits that people never wanted and usually never received

Updated: 6:32 PM CST Dec 29, 2023

It started with one phone call, from one person, to 12 News Investigates in August."I've never met anyone from these labs, I've never requested anything from these labs, I've never used these labs," Sylvia told WISN 12 News. Sylvia did not want to use her last name, still worried about her Medicare number getting used without her permission. She was concerned Medicare paid for COVID-19 tests on her behalf that she never asked for and never received.WISN 12 News Investigates has been reporting on the issue for months. The issue has now drawn scrutiny from lawmakers calling on Congress to investigate. 12 News Investigates has learned more than 160 Wisconsinites have been caught in the middle. Now, 12 News Investigates has learned the Department of Justice and FBI are closing in on companies accused of ordering and sometimes shipping those test kits.A federal warrant shows the DOJ and FBI have recovered a little more than $1.5 million from a bank account for the Chicago-based company SK Diagnostics Inc. The feds say, in a 9-week period between March and June, the company was paid $43,305,656 by Medicare and billed the government on behalf of roughly 465,000 people and 471 others who had died.Marilyn Manger was one of them. She spoke with our sister station, WBAL TV, in Baltimore."It's easy money," she said. "It's all about let's make money without having to do the work and do it on the backs of those of us who worked our whole lives."Documents show the owner of SK Diagnostics bought a plane ticket to India and left Chicago the same day he was interviewed by the feds in June. Earlier this month, Baqar Hussain Razv Syed was charged in federal court in Chicago. He is accused of defrauding the government of more than $31 million in a similar scheme using his company, Luna Labs LLC."You can talk to my attorney for now," Syed told 12 News after he pleaded not guilty. A trial date for Syed is Set for October 2024. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

It started with one phone call, from one person, to 12 News Investigates in August.

"I've never met anyone from these labs, I've never requested anything from these labs, I've never used these labs," Sylvia told WISN 12 News. Sylvia did not want to use her last name, still worried about her Medicare number getting used without her permission. She was concerned Medicare paid for COVID-19 tests on her behalf that she never asked for and never received.

WISN 12 News Investigates has been reporting on the issue for months. The issue has now drawn scrutiny from lawmakers calling on Congress to investigate. 12 News Investigates has learned more than 160 Wisconsinites have been caught in the middle.

Now, 12 News Investigates has learned the Department of Justice and FBI are closing in on companies accused of ordering and sometimes shipping those test kits.

A federal warrant shows the DOJ and FBI have recovered a little more than $1.5 million from a bank account for the Chicago-based company SK Diagnostics Inc. The feds say, in a 9-week period between March and June, the company was paid $43,305,656 by Medicare and billed the government on behalf of roughly 465,000 people and 471 others who had died.

Marilyn Manger was one of them. She spoke with our sister station, WBAL TV, in Baltimore.

"It's easy money," she said. "It's all about let's make money without having to do the work and do it on the backs of those of us who worked our whole lives."

Documents show the owner of SK Diagnostics bought a plane ticket to India and left Chicago the same day he was interviewed by the feds in June.

Earlier this month, Baqar Hussain Razv Syed was charged in federal court in Chicago. He is accused of defrauding the government of more than $31 million in a similar scheme using his company, Luna Labs LLC.

"You can talk to my attorney for now," Syed told 12 News after he pleaded not guilty.

A trial date for Syed is Set for October 2024. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

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Feds recover $1.5 million of alleged $43 million COVID-19 Medicare fraud case - WISN Milwaukee