Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to $14M COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

An Illinois man has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a COVID-19 testing fraud scheme, according to the Department of Justice.

Zishan Alvi, 45, of Inverness, Illinois, owned and operated a laboratory in Chicago that conducted COVID-19 testing.

From February 2021 through February 2022, Alvi orchestrated a scheme to submit fraudulent claims to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for COVID-19 tests that were either not performed or were inconclusive.

According to court documents, the laboratory falsely released negative COVID-19 test results to patients, even when tests were not completed or results were indeterminate. Despite knowing this, Alvi caused the lab to submit claims to HRSA for these tests, resulting in over $14 million in fraudulent payments.

Alvi pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 7, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The announcement was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois; Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

The FBI and HHS-OIG are conducting the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Claire T. Sobczak of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Misty Wright for the Northern District of Illinois.

This article, "Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to $14M COVID-19 Fraud Scheme" was first published on Small Business Trends