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.