20 Charged in COVID Fraud Schemes Totaling $150 Million
Fraudsters sold fake vaccine cards and billed over $100 million to Medicare for fraudulent claims, tests and lengthy physician visits.
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Federal prosecutors have charged about 20 people with allegedly engaging in various fraud schemes related to the COVID-19 pandemic that amounted to about $150 million in improper government claims, roughly $20 million of which have been paid, reports the Wall Street Journal. The new cases are filed in districts around the country, including Maryland, New Jersey, Colorado, California, and Miami, where fraudsters sold fake vaccine cards and billed over $100 million to Medicare for fraudulent claims, tests, and lengthy physician visits.
In some of the cases, healthcare providers allegedly used Covid-19 testing to obtain personal information and saliva or blood samples from patients, and used them to submit for more expensive tests. In other cases, defendants allegedly worked to get around new requirements installed after the COVID-19 outbreak, including a required proof of vaccination at some businesses. The cases “involve extraordinary efforts to prosecute some of the largest and most wide-ranging pandemic frauds detected to date,” said Kevin Chambers, who was tapped last month to lead the Justice Department’s Covid-19 fraud enforcement efforts.
