An Arkansas lab owner was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $30 million in restitution for his role in a $134 million healthcare fraud and money laundering scheme.
Billy Joe Taylor, 44, of Lavaca, Ark., and his co-conspirators submitted claims to Medicare in connection with diagnostic laboratory testing during the COVID-19 pandemic that were not medically necessary, not ordered by medical providers and were not provided as represented, according to a June 8 Justice Department news release.
Mr. Taylor and others obtained medical information and private personal information for Medicare beneficiaries and misused the information to repeatedly submit claims for diagnostic tests. They received more than $38 million from the $134 million of fraudulent claims they submitted to Medicare.
The fraudulent claims were submitted on behalf of five labs that were owned or controlled by Mr. Taylor and his co-conspirators, according to an Oct. 27 Justice Department news release.