NEW YORK – The US Department of Justice said last week that the owner and operator of a Texas clinical laboratory has been charged for his role in a $79 million respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) testing fraud scheme.
According to the court, Osman Syed caused BioDX Labs to submit more than $79 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Texas Medicaid for RPP tests that were not provided and were not medically necessary.
The government alleges that Syed used the personal identifying information of a physician without the physician's knowledge or consent to submit claims for RPP testing, even though the physician had no relationship with and did not treat the patients for whom these claims were submitted. Syed concealed the fact that BioDX did not perform the submitted tests by falsely representing that the lab used reference laboratories to perform the testing. He and his co-conspirators laundered the proceeds of the scheme by transferring money to bank accounts abroad, including accounts in China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Greece, and Switzerland. In connection with the charges, the government seized over $15 million in cash.
Osman, also known as Syed Osman, is charged with three counts of healthcare fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and three counts of money laundering. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count.