NEW YORK — The US Department of Justice said earlier this month that a federal jury has convicted Arrayit President Mark Schena for taking part in a $77 million COVID-19 and allergy testing scheme.
In mid-2021, the DOJ announced that it had filed criminal charges against 14 individuals for allegedly committing testing-related fraud including Schena, who was accused of defrauding Arrayit investors about the financial state of the company, as well as orchestrating an illegal kickback and healthcare fraud scheme that involved submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare and private insurance for unnecessary allergy testing.
Schena was also charged with telling investors that Arrayit had developed a COVID-19 test that was more accurate than PCR testing, while concealing that the US Food and Drug Administration had determined the company's test was not accurate enough to receive Emergency Use Authorization. Further, Schena claimed that US government officials had mandated testing for COVID-19 and allergies at the same time and required patients receiving the Arrayit COVID-19 test also be tested for allergies, the DOJ said.
Schena was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay kickbacks, two counts of payment of kickbacks, and three counts of securities fraud, the DOJ said. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment for the conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud; 10 years of imprisonment for each count of healthcare fraud; five years imprisonment for conspiracy to pay kickbacks; 10 years imprisonment for each count of payment of kickbacks; and 20 years imprisonment for each count of securities fraud.
Schena is set to be sentenced in early 2023.