News-At-A-Glance: Drug Testing Lab Forfeits $753,955 to Government

Federal prosecutors filed a motion to seize financial accounts belonging to Universal Oral Fluid Laboratories (UOFL) and its owner William Hughes in a case involving sham joint venture agreements with physicians that provided kickbacks for referrals to the lab. The Pennsylvania drug testing lab was seeking to be the exclusive lab for providing drug testing services nationwide. According to court documents, UOFL received $42 million from commercial insurances and $11.2 million from Medicare between January 2011 and November 2013. One physician who conspired with Hughes in the scheme accounted for approximately $1.9 million of the Medicare revenue deposited in one of the accounts. Hughes wrote checks to himself and his wife and moved money from one account to another. Since the money was gained through violations of federal law, the government has a right to seize it and did so. The investigation into UOFL is continuing.