Indian-Origin Man On US Fugitive List Over Rs 8 Billion Medicare Fraud. 'He May Be In Hyderabad'

An Indian-origin laboratory owner has been declared a fugitive in the US after allegedly engaging in a $93 million (approximately Rs 8.89 billion) Medicare fraud scheme involving genetic testing. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, Khadeer Khan Mohammed, 46, used his Texas-based laboratory to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare, a US government-funded healthcare programme, for over a year. 

Mohammed owned American Premier Labs LLC in Richardson, Texas. From about August 2023 to October 2024, he purportedly directed others to submit claims that were ineligible for reimbursement, not requested by authorised medical providers, and not provided as represented through the laboratory, the authorities said. 

Mohammed used American Premier to submit approximately $93 million in alleged fraudulent Medicare claims. Medicare paid at least $65 million on those claims, the data showed. 

In just 10 days in 2023 alone, Medicare paid approximately $13 million against suspected fraudulent claims.

A key part of the alleged scheme was how Mohammed used other physicians' personal identifying information without their knowledge or consent to submit claims for genetic tests for beneficiaries with whom the physicians had no treatment relationship. 

According to the Department of Health, the claims were submitted for Medicare beneficiaries whose doctors had no treatment relationship with them. 

The department alleged that the identities of several doctors were used to make the laboratory claims appear legit.

US authorities have now listed Mohammed as a fugitive and said they believe he may be in Hyderabad, India.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health and the FBI are investigating a criminal case against him. They have reportedly already seized nearly $6 million from bank accounts allegedly controlled by Mohammed.