North Carolina Lab Owner Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud

The former owner of Wilkesboro Clinical Laboratory faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to participating in a health care fraud scheme. Louis Francis Curte pleaded guilty April 25 to billing Medicare for services not rendered. Curte also admitted to filing false tax returns from 2007 to 2010. In a separate civil settlement, Curte also agreed to pay $300,000 to resolve civil fraud allegations that he and his company violated the Stark law. According to court documents, Curte owned and operated the Wilkesboro Clinical Laboratory, which from at least 2007 until about 2009 defrauded Medicare by submitting false and fraudulent claims for microbiology services that were never rendered. According to the plea agreement, the loss to Medicare was between $10,000 and $30,000. Curte faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the health care fraud charges and a maximum term of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the tax fraud charge.