Florida Telemarketers Indicted for $47 Million Genetic Test Fraud Scheme

  Case: A federal grand jury indicted three telemarketing company owners for a smorgasbord of fraud, kickback and money laundering violations that allegedly cost Medicare $47 million medically unnecessary genetic tests. Following what has become a familiar pattern, the schemers ran a telemarketing campaign designed to get Medicare beneficiaries to undergo genetic cancer screening, regardless of their medical need. They then recruited a network of physicians who were willing to order the tests without seeing the patients in exchange for kickbacks. Those orders were then sold to the labs that performed the tests and sent the bill to Medicare.   Significance: Telemarketing schemes were just starting to penetrate the radar of federal enforcers before the pandemic hit. As utilization of telemedicine has increased, so has the level of enforcement scrutiny and activity, the culmination of which was last year’s Operation Rubberstamp, a massive federal takedown. While not specifically its focus, genetic testing labs often play a key role in telemarketing fraud cases, as in this most recent indictment.

Case: A federal grand jury indicted three telemarketing company owners for a smorgasbord of fraud, kickback and money laundering violations that allegedly cost Medicare $47 million medically unnecessary genetic tests. Following what has become a familiar pattern, the schemers ran a telemarketing campaign designed to get Medicare beneficiaries to undergo genetic cancer screening, regardless of their medical need. They then recruited a network of physicians who were willing to order the tests without seeing the patients in exchange for kickbacks. Those orders were then sold to the labs that performed the tests and sent the bill to Medicare.

Significance: Telemarketing schemes were just starting to penetrate the radar of federal enforcers before the pandemic hit. As utilization of telemedicine has increased, so has the level of enforcement scrutiny and activity, the culmination of which was last year’s Operation Rubberstamp, a massive federal takedown. While not specifically its focus, genetic testing labs often play a key role in telemarketing fraud cases, as in this most recent indictment.