NEW YORK – The US Department of Justice said Tuesday that a federal jury in Detroit has convicted a California lab operator for his role in a lab testing scheme.
According to the government, Sherif Khalil, the operator of Gardena, California-based Spectra Clinical Labs defrauded Medicare of more than $4 million by submitting fraudulent claims for unnecessary urine drug testing.
Khalil arranged to pay marketers a percentage of Medicare reimbursements in exchange for doctors' orders for drug testing panels for patients receiving pain management treatment. He concealed the payments to these marketers by routing them through marketing companies that he secretly controlled. The marketers had staff members at doctors' offices send Spectra orders for urine drug tests that doctors did not want and did not authorize. Khalil knew that these orders were not medically necessary.
Khalil was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay, offer, receive, and solicit healthcare kickbacks. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 7 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud count and five years in prison on the count for conspiracy to defraud the US and to pay, offer, receive, and solicit healthcare kickbacks.