Feds charge 21 people with $150M in COVID fraud

DOJ: 21 people charged nationwide with $150M in COVID fraud WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-one people have been charged in the past nine days as part of a nationwide enforcement push to root out those who exploit the pandemic through health care fraud schemes, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. AP NEWS

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The cases resulted in about $150 million in alleged false billings and theft from federal pandemic assistance programs. The DOJ seized over $8 million in cash and other fraud proceeds.

Some defendants are accused of offering COVID-19 testing to get people to provide their personal identifying information and a saliva or blood sample. That information and the samples were then allegedly used to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for unnecessary, far more expensive tests or services.

In Colorado, federal agents went through a man’s trash to uncover an alleged scheme to produce and sell fake vaccination record cards. In Maryland and New York, owners of medical clinics are accused of using information from people who sought COVID testing at drive-thru sites to submit fraudulent claims for lengthy office visits that never occurred. ...