2.27亿美元医保诈骗认罪：印度籍男子买数十万受益人信息虚报新冠试剂，医保实付1.36亿美元
美国司法部10月30日宣布，印度籍男子 Syed Murtuza Kablazada 已就一宗2.27亿美元联邦医保（Medicare）诈骗案认罪。现年36岁、居住在伊利诺伊州 Des Plaines 的 Kablazada 被控购买数十万名医保受益人的个人信息，用来为从未提供过的新冠检测试剂向医保虚假申报。
据法庭文件，2023年1月起的约六个月内，Kablazada 与同伙收购了芝加哥地区的三家实验室——Chicago Care、V Care 与 Al-Ameer，随后向一家位于巴基斯坦的所谓电话营销公司支付约1,100万美元，获取数十万名医保受益人的个人信息。三家实验室据此提交了总额2.27亿美元的虚假申报，申报的非处方新冠试剂从未被受益人索取、也从未寄出，医保实际赔付约1.36亿美元。
作为认罪协议的一部分，Kablazada 同意没收执法部门从十个银行账户中查扣的超过4,600万美元诈骗所得。他对两项医疗保健诈骗罪认罪，每项最高可判20年监禁，量刑日期尚未确定。此案由司法部国家欺诈执法处助理部长 Colin M. McDonald、FBI 芝加哥外地办事处特别探员主管 Ryan Whalen 与卫生与公众服务部监察长办公室特别探员主管 Thomas Ethridge 共同宣布，FBI 芝加哥办事处与卫生部监察长办公室负责调查。
Indian National Pleads Guilty in $227M Medicare Fraud: Bought Beneficiaries' Data to Bill for COVID Test Kits Never Delivered
An Indian national has pleaded guilty to a $227 million Medicare fraud scheme, the Justice Department announced on October 30. Syed Murtuza Kablazada, 36, an Indian national residing in Des Plaines, Illinois, admitted that personally identifiable information for hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries was purchased and used to bill Medicare for COVID-19 test kits that were never provided.
According to court documents, over about six months starting in January 2023, Kablazada and his co-schemers acquired three Chicago-area laboratories — Chicago Care, V Care, and Al-Ameer — and paid approximately $11 million to a purported telemarketing company based in Pakistan for the beneficiary data. The laboratories then submitted $227 million in false and fraudulent claims for over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits that were never requested or shipped; Medicare paid approximately $136 million.
As part of his plea agreement, Kablazada agreed to forfeit more than $46 million in fraud proceeds seized from ten bank accounts. He pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison; a sentencing date has not been set. The case was announced by Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, FBI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Ryan Whalen, and HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ethridge, and was investigated by the FBI Chicago Field Office and HHS-OIG.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：2018年版联邦医保卡样本。美国联邦医保中心，公共领域。 / A sample 2018 Medicare card. U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, public domain.
