伊利诺伊州实验室老板被起诉：涉嫌伪造38万份新冠检测结果骗取6620万美元
美国司法部（Department of Justice, DOJ）10月20日宣布，伊利诺伊州北区联邦大陪审团前一日对实验室老板 Rajesh “Raj” Patel 提起公诉。Patel 现年52岁，住在伊利诺伊州 Schaumburg，他被指控炮制数十万份从未实际进行的新冠病毒检测，向联邦政府虚报约6,620万美元费用。
据起诉书，2021年5月至2022年4月间，Patel 为其实验室 Meridian 提供的样本伪造了至少38万份 PCR 检测的“阴性”结果，而实验室实际上从未进行这些检测；许多所谓的“患者”根本不存在，或从未向 Meridian 提供过检测样本。司法部称，Patel 伪造这些结果，是为了让实验室向美国卫生资源与服务管理局（Health Resources and Services Administration, HRSA）的“无保险者项目”（Uninsured Program）申报费用。该项目由联邦出资，为没有医疗保险的人支付新冠检测费用。实验室借此共提交约6,620万美元虚假申报，HRSA 实际支付了约4,410万美元，Patel 本人从这起骗局中获得约2,800万美元。
Patel 被控五项电信诈骗罪（wire fraud），若罪名成立，每项最高可判处20年监禁。
司法部全国欺诈执法司（National Fraud Enforcement Division）助理司法部长 Colin M. McDonald 表示：“这名被告涉嫌利用一场全球危机谋取私利，编造了数十万份新冠检测，然后向纳税人收费。从联邦医疗项目拿走的每一美元，都是从美国人民手中拿走的一美元。欺诈司会找到那些窃取纳税人钱财的人，并将他们绳之以法。”联邦调查局（Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI）芝加哥外地办事处特别探员主管 Ryan Whalen 表示，打击金融欺诈、追究以非法手段获取联邦援助牟利者的责任，始终是 FBI 的首要任务；疫情援助项目本是为社会弱势成员提供生命线，受托使用联邦医疗资金者有责任诚实、准确地申报。
此案由 FBI 芝加哥外地办事处与卫生与公众服务部监察长办公室（HHS-OIG）调查，HHS-OIG 特别探员主管 Thomas Ethridge 与检方一同宣布起诉；案件由司法部欺诈司医疗保健欺诈处出庭律师 Claire Sobczak Pacelli 负责起诉。司法部表示，起诉书仅为一项指控，被告在法庭上被证明有罪之前应被推定无罪。司法部另指出，其欺诈司于今年4月7日设立，专门调查与起诉针对美国民众的欺诈行为，并配合由副总统万斯主持的跨政府“消除欺诈工作组”。
根据法庭文件，Patel 是位于 Hillside 的一家临床实验室的共同所有人兼首席运营官，该实验室在疫情期间处理 PCR 新冠检测。团伙随后向卫生资源与服务管理局（HRSA）的无保险人群计划虚假申报约 6,620 万美元，实际骗得约 4,410 万美元，Patel 个人获利约 2,800 万美元。五项电信欺诈罪每项最高可判 20 年监禁。起诉书仅为指控，他在法庭证明有罪之前推定无罪。
Illinois Laboratory Owner Charged in $66.2 Million COVID-19 Testing Fraud Scheme: Prosecutors Allege Fake Results for 380,000 Tests Never Performed
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on October 20 that a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois had returned an indictment the day before charging laboratory owner Rajesh “Raj” Patel, 52, of Schaumburg, Illinois, with a $66.2 million fraud scheme in which he allegedly billed for hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests that were never performed.
According to the indictment, between May 2021 and April 2022, Patel created fake “negative” test results for at least 380,000 PCR tests on specimens provided by Meridian, his laboratory. The laboratory never actually performed these tests, and, prosecutors allege, many of the supposed patients never existed or never provided test specimens to Meridian. The Justice Department says Patel created the fake results so the laboratory could fraudulently bill the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Uninsured Program, a federally funded program that covered the costs of COVID-19 tests for people without health insurance. The laboratory submitted approximately $66.2 million in fraudulent claims to HRSA, HRSA paid the laboratory approximately $44.1 million, and Patel personally obtained approximately $28 million in proceeds from the scheme.
Patel is charged with five counts of wire fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.
“This defendant allegedly exploited a global crisis for personal gain, fabricating hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests – then billing the taxpayer for it,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). “Every dollar taken from a federal health care program is a dollar taken from the American people. The Fraud Division will find those who steal from taxpayers, and we will prosecute them.” FBI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Ryan Whalen said fighting financial fraud and holding accountable those who unlawfully obtain federal assistance for personal profit remains a top priority for the FBI, adding that pandemic assistance programs were designed to provide a lifeline to vulnerable members of society and that those entrusted with federal health care dollars have a responsibility to bill honestly and accurately.
The FBI Chicago Field Office and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) investigated the case, which was announced together with HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ethridge. Trial Attorney Claire Sobczak Pacelli of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section is prosecuting the case. The Justice Department notes that an indictment is merely an allegation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The department added that its Fraud Division, created on April 7, is focused on investigating and prosecuting fraud against the American people, in support of the government-wide Task Force to Eliminate Fraud chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.
According to court documents, Patel was the co-owner and chief operating officer of a clinical laboratory in Hillside, Illinois, that processed PCR tests during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme billed the Health Resources and Services Administration's uninsured program roughly $66.2 million in false claims and obtained about $44.1 million, of which Patel personally pocketed approximately $28 million. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：位于芝加哥的 Dirksen 联邦法院大楼，伊利诺伊州北区联邦地区法院设于此，本案起诉书由该区联邦大陪审团提出。照片：Ken Lund 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经维基共享资源／The Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago, home to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where a federal grand jury returned the indictment. Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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