Mocobizscene- A Los Angeles County medical laboratory co-owner has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in a fraud scheme that took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. This scheme involved submitting false billings and stealing from federal programs.
Imran Shams, a 65-year-old resident of Glendale, has been sentenced by the U.S. Department of Justice to serve prison time, pay $31.7 million in restitution, and undergo three years of supervised release.
A year ago, he admitted his guilt to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In October, his wife, Lourdes Navarro, 65, also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count as well as a wire fraud charge.
Shams and Navarro operated a laboratory called Matias Clinical Laboratory Inc., also known as Health Care Providers Laboratory, located in Baldwin Park. This laboratory specialized in conducting COVID-19 screening tests for nursing homes, facilities housing vulnerable elderly populations, as well as primary and secondary schools.
According to documents filed in Los Angeles federal court, the couple fraudulently added claims for respiratory pathogen panel tests to increase reimbursements, despite providers and facility administrators not wanting or needing them.
Navarro and Shams’ lab submitted approximately $359 million in claims for unnecessary tests to Medicare, the Health Resources and Services Administration’s COVID-19 Uninsured Program, and an insurance company. In return, they received reimbursements totaling around $54 million.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that the couple engaged in the payment of kickbacks for specimens and test orders, as well as the laundering of profits through the use of shell companies and the acquisition of real estate, luxury items, and personal goods and services.
According to court documents, Shams had been barred from participating in Medicare due to his conviction in 2000. The conviction included felony charges of Medi-Cal fraud, grand theft, money laundering, and identity theft.
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