NEWARK, NJ — On April 21, the Department of Justice announced criminal charges against 21 defendants in nine federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various health care–related fraud schemes that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic. These cases allegedly resulted in more than $149 million in COVID-19–related false billings to federal programs and theft from federally-funded pandemic assistance programs. In connection with the enforcement action, the department seized more than $8 million in cash and other fraud proceeds.
“The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Unit and our partners are dedicated to rooting out schemes that have exploited the pandemic,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said.
“Billions of dollars have been spent by the federal government to help individuals and their companies with the economic impact of COVID-19,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, District of New Jersey, said. “Unfortunately, unscrupulous people have stolen millions of dollars through a variety of schemes. We will continue to bring cases to fight this kind of fraud.”
In the District of New Jersey:
- Abid Syed, Taquir Din, Tamer Mohamed, Abdul Rauf, Tauquir Khan and Nisim Davydov, all of New Jersey, are charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute for their roles in an alleged scheme to defraud Medicare by paying illegal kickbacks and bribes of more than $250,000 for laboratory tests for COVID-19 pathogen tests. Syed and Din owned and controlled Metpath, a clinical laboratory in Parsippany, which performed and billed Medicare for COVID-19 diagnostic testing. Khan, Mohamed and Davydov were marketers who supplied thousands of COVID-19 diagnostic tests to Metpath and who allegedly received kickbacks and bribes from Syed and Din for doing so. The complaint alleges that Metpath tried to conceal its kickback payments to the marketers through shell companies set up and controlled by Rauf.
- Lisa Hammell, 39, of Turnersville, an employee of the U.S. Postal Service, was charged by indictment with an alleged conspiracy to defraud the United States and fraud in connection with identification documents for her role in creating and distributing to others fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination record cards. Hammell allegedly made the fraudulent cards while working at a post office and allegedly sold at least 400 fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards to unvaccinated people.
The complains above are allegations; all defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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