18 defendants charged in $490M worth of alleged COVID-19 fraud schemes

The Justice Department is charging 18 defendants in separate COVID-19-related fraud schemes, in the largest coordinated law enforcement action targeting COVID-19 healthcare fraud to date. 

The cases collectively amount to an alleged $490 million in false billing and theft from federal COVID-19 programs, according to an April 20 news release from the Justice Department. 

According to the release, multiple defendants were charged with defrauding the Health Resources and Services Administration COVID-19 Uninsured Program, which provides access to COVID-19 testing and treatment. 

In California, a lab owner faces charges for allegedly submitting over $358 million in false claims to Medicare, the COVID-19 uninsured program, and a private insurance company. 

A California physician was charged for allegedly orchestrating $230 million in fraudulent billing to the federal government's uninsured program. 

Other individuals in multiple states were charged for allegedly creating and selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards. 

Read more about the enforcement actions here. 

 

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