An executive at a suburban medical laboratory helped submit $66.2 million in fraudulent COVID-19 testing claims to collect tens of millions in taxpayer cash, federal prosecutors allege.
Rajesh Patel, 53, of Schaumburg, was charged Monday in a five-count federal wire fraud indictment filed in Chicago.
Federal prosecutors say Patel personally pocketed nearly $28 million from the scheme, transferring the stolen funds directly into accounts under his control.
How the $66 Million Scam Worked
Patel served as an executive at a clinical testing laboratory based in Hillside, where he still appears on the company’s leadership page.
In March 2021, the Hillside lab partnered with Meridian Medical Staffing to process COVID-19 test samples collected at patient testing sites.
The laboratory paid Meridian over $60 million to collect patient samples and gather personal information needed for government billing.
Federal investigators found that many of those patients never existed, while others never submitted any testing samples to Meridian at all.
380,000 Fake Negative Results Sent to Patients
Beginning in May 2021, Patel allegedly began manufacturing fake “negative” test results directly inside the laboratory’s computer system.
Patel released the fabricated results to supposed patients without ever running a single laboratory test on the specimens.
The lab then used those fake test results to bill a federal program created to cover COVID-19 testing for uninsured Americans.
In total, Patel caused the laboratory to submit $66.2 million in fake claims, forcing federal taxpayers to payout $44.1 million.
To highlight the scheme, federal prosecutors listed five individual claims in the court filing where Patel billed $185 per fake test and collected $123.46 on each.
Patel now faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud.
