The Department of Justice on Wednesday announced criminal charges against 21 companies in nine federal districts for an alleged $149 million in healthcare-related COVID-19 fraud schemes.
The charges relate to false billings to the federal programs, theft from federally funded pandemic assistance programs, and ensnared telemedicine companies, physicians, marketers and medical business owners. The Justice Department said it seized more than $8 million in cash and other proceeds resulting from the alleged fraud in the federal crackdown.
The announcement follows a May COVID-19 enforcement action that involved the prosecution of various COVID-19 healthcare fraud schemes, including fraudulent Medicare billing, money laundering, healthcare fraud, wire fraud, kickback schemes related to fake COVID-19 tests and immunization cards, as well as services and phony COVID-19 cures and treatments.
Wednesday’s federal crackdown announcement includes additional charges against two companies for schemes targeting the Provider Relief Fund, which provided financial assistance to healthcare providers under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In total, 10 defendants have been charged with crimes related to misappropriating Provider Relief Fund dollars intended for frontline medical providers. Three have pleaded guilty, the department said.
The attorney general established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force in 2021 to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.
The IRS recently announced investigations in 660 tax and money laundering cases that uncovered more than $1.8 billion in alleged COVID-19 fraud over the past two years.
