Federal Jury Finds Trio Guilty of $3.5 Million Lab Kickback Conspiracy
Case: Three men from the Chicago area were convicted of taking bribes for sending blood, urine and saliva samples to St. Louis lab AMS Medical Laboratory, Inc. for testing subsequently billed to Medicare and Medicaid. Under the elaborate scheme which generated $3.5 million in false test billings, the defendants sent AMS samples collected at health fairs held at churches and businesses in Illinois and Indiana under the names of doctors who didn’t order the tests or even know the patients; in exchange, they received a cut of 50% of the profits—up to $200 per sample—from AMS’ managing partner. Significance: The Chicago three are among 10 defendants in the case, including the managing partner who pled guilty last year and a physician convicted by a jury last October for pocketing kickbacks in connection with the scheme. They’ll be sentenced in July.
Case: Three men from the Chicago area were convicted of taking bribes for sending blood, urine and saliva samples to St. Louis lab AMS Medical Laboratory, Inc. for testing subsequently billed to Medicare and Medicaid. Under the elaborate scheme which generated $3.5 million in false test billings, the defendants sent AMS samples collected at health fairs held at churches and businesses in Illinois and Indiana under the names of doctors who didn’t order the tests or even know the patients; in exchange, they received a cut of 50% of the profits—up to $200 per sample—from AMS’ managing partner.
Significance: The Chicago three are among 10 defendants in the case, including the managing partner who pled guilty last year and a physician convicted by a jury last October for pocketing kickbacks in connection with the scheme. They’ll be sentenced in July.
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