Convicted lab owner ordered to forfeit over $187 million in health care fraud proceeds

MIAMI – On Sept. 22, U.S. District Court Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz, in Miami, ordered the defendant, Minal Patel, to forfeit over $187 million in health care fraud proceeds including over $30 million seized from personal and corporate bank accounts, a 2018 Red Ferrari Spider, a 2019 Land Rover Range Rover, and real property.

Minal Patel, 44, of Atlanta, owned LabSolutions LLC (LabSolutions), a lab enrolled with Medicare that performed sophisticated genetic tests. Patel conspired with patient brokers, telemedicine companies, and call centers to target Medicare beneficiaries with telemarketing calls falsely stating that Medicare covered expensive cancer genetic tests. After the Medicare beneficiaries agreed to take a test, Patel paid kickbacks and bribes to patient brokers to obtain signed doctors’ orders authorizing the tests from telemedicine companies. To conceal the kickbacks and bribes, Patel required patient brokers to sign sham contracts that falsely stated that the brokers were performing legitimate advertising services for LabSolutions, when, as Patel well knew, the brokers were deceptively marketing to Medicare beneficiaries and paying kickbacks and bribes to telemedicine companies for genetic testing prescriptions.

Patel knew the telemedicine doctors robo-signed prescriptions for expensive genetic testing even though they were not treating the beneficiaries, often did not even speak with them, and made no evaluation of medical necessity. From July 2016 through August 2019, LabSolutions submitted more than $463 million in claims to Medicare, including for thousands of medically unnecessary genetic tests, of which Medicare paid over $187 million.  Patel enriched himself with the fruits of his crimes, including with the purchase of luxury items like a 2018 Red Ferrari Spider.

Exhibit from court record

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Region, made the announcement. 

FBI Miami and HHS-OIG Miami investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Jamie de Boer, Emily Gurskis, Reginald Cuyler Jr., Katherine Rookard, and Patrick Queenan of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon handled the asset forfeiture proceedings.

Related press release regarding sentencing available here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/lab-owner-sentenced-463m-genetic-testing-scheme

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 19-cr-80181.

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