In a significant federal bust, the CEO and Medical Director of a lab were charged with executing a $500 million fraud scheme, capitalizing on the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan revealed that Cemhan “Jimmy” Biricik, 46, of Boca Raton, Florida, CEO of Fast Lab Technologies, LLC, and Dr. Martin Perlin, 74, of Fairfield, Connecticut, the lab’s Medical Director, faced an indictment involving conspiracy to commit health care fraud among over fifty counts of fraud.
The indictment alleges that the New York-based Fast Lab engaged in deceptive practices, billing for COVID-19 tests that were either not performed or not observed by medical professionals as claimed. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s announcement, the fraud involved antigen and PCR tests that were supposed to have been supervised and handled by health care professionals, but in reality, most tests were unsupervised, saliva samples were not collected, and no PCR testing was conducted.
Despite the absence of a legitimate treating relationship, Dr. Perlin was reported to be the ordering physician for a plethora of tests. This came to light when Fast Lab started submitting claims before test kits had even been dispatched to individuals who were supposed to receive them—a clear misalignment between service claimed and service delivered. In total, Biricik’s firm billed more than $500 million in fraudulent claims but was paid in excess of $50 million.
An extensive team from agencies such as the HHS-OIG, FBI, OPM-OIG, and DCIS led the investigation into the scheme. Both defendants, though charged, are reminded by the Justice Department that they are entitled to “a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” as per the indictment details. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Regina R. McCullough and Ryan A. Particka, with assistance from the Southern District of New York.
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