Texas lab owner declared fugitive in $93M Medicare fraud

A Texas laboratory owner has been declared a federal fugitive after being accused of orchestrating a $93 million Medicare fraud scheme that used stolen physician identities to submit false claims for genetic tests. Khadeer Khan Mohammed, 46, is now believed to be in Hyderabad, India, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. The scheme allegedly operated from about August 2023 through October 2024 through American Premier Labs LLC, a laboratory based in Richardson, Texas, that Mohammed owned. Federal investigators say the operation submitted approximately $93 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for genetic testing, of which at least $65 million was paid out. In a single 10-day period in 2023, Medicare paid approximately $13 million against claims now considered fraudulent. The core of the alleged fraud involved the unauthorized use of physicians' personal identifying information. According to authorities, Mohammed used the credentials of several practicing doctors without their knowledge or consent to submit claims for genetic tests on Medicare beneficiaries those physicians had never treated.