CHICAGO — Two men have been charged in one of the largest healthcare fraud cases involving COVID-19 testing. Syed Mehdi Hussain and Syed Murtuza Kablazada face federal charges for allegedly defrauding Medicare out of $136 million through fake billing for COVID-19 tests that were never ordered or received by beneficiaries.
According to a federal criminal complaint, the scheme involved multiple fraudulent laboratories based in Chicago, including Chicago Care Lab Services, V Care, and Al-Ameer Testing. These labs, now shuttered, were used as fronts to submit fake reimbursement claims to Medicare, often billing for tests linked to people who had no knowledge of the service.
The complaint alleges the pair worked with Baqar Syed, who previously pleaded guilty to defrauding $14 million through the same operation. Investigators say they bought Medicare beneficiary data from a marketing firm and used that information to submit false claims on a massive scale.
In total, Medicare was billed over $500 million nationwide in similar fraudulent claims, with over $454 million already paid out to labs using the same scheme. Many of the individuals listed as lab operators were foreign nationals who have since fled the country, further complicating the investigation.
12 News Investigates had been tracking unusual Medicare billing activity for nearly two years, interviewing dozens of victims across Wisconsin. Their reporting helped draw attention to the issue, prompting scrutiny from federal authorities and lawmakers.
As of now, Hussain and Kablazada are in federal custody, facing charges of health care fraud, conspiracy, and false claims. The U.S. Department of Justice continues to probe related cases in at least 17 states.
Authorities urge Medicare beneficiaries to regularly check their statements and report unfamiliar charges to avoid falling victim to such schemes.
