NEW YORK – The US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas said Monday that four individuals have pleaded guilty to separate toxicology testing fraud schemes totaling $4.6 million.
Three of the defendants, Mark Rubin, Renee Field, and Kelly Nelson, participated in an arrangement under which lab company RK Clinical Solutions obtained toxicology testing orders by paying kickbacks and then billed Medicare and other federal healthcare programs for those tests. The remaining defendant, Carlos Hornedo, participated in a similar scheme with lab firms Unified Laboratory Services and Spectrum Diagnostic Laboratory, the US attorney's office said.
Under the first scheme, Field, the co-owner and clinical director of RK, and Nelson, the co-owner of RK, paid kickbacks to Rubin, a pain management physician, in exchange for test orders. RK billed federal payors more than $481,000, and Rubin received more than $330,000 in kickbacks.
In the second scheme, Hornedo ordered toxicology testing from Unified and Spectrum in exchange for kickbacks. The two labs billed federal payors in excess of $4.1 million, and Hornedo received $412,000 in kickbacks, $45,000 in lease payments, $109,000 in medical adviser payments, and ownership shares in a company called Reliable Labs.
All four were charged in December 2023. On Dec. 13, Field and Nelson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks. On Jan. 10 and Jan. 17, Hornedo and Rubin, respectively, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive illegal kickbacks. Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of not more than five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Each may also be ordered to pay restitution.