Laboratory Owner Charged For $79M Fraud Scheme

India-West Staff Reporter

AUSTIN, TX – Osman Syed, the owner and operator of a Texas laboratory, has been charged in connection with his involvement in a massive $79 million respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) testing fraud scheme. According to court documents, Syed, also known as Syed Osman, an Indian national, orchestrated the submission of fraudulent claims to Medicare and Texas Medicaid through his company, BioDX Labs LLC. These claims, which amounted to more than $79 million, were for RPP tests that were neither provided nor medically necessary, the Department of Justice revealed.

Syed used the personal identifying information of a physician, without the physician’s knowledge or consent, to submit millions of dollars in false claims for RPP tests. These tests were billed for beneficiaries and recipients who had no relationship with the physician, and the physician had not treated them for respiratory symptoms or used the tests in any medical capacity. To conceal the fraudulent nature of the scheme, Syed falsely claimed that BioDX Labs had used reference laboratories to perform the tests, despite the tests not being conducted at all.

The conspiracy also involved money laundering, with Syed and his co-conspirators transferring substantial sums of the fraudulent proceeds to foreign bank accounts in China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Greece, and Switzerland. In connection with the charges, the government seized over $15 million in cash.

Syed faces serious charges, including three counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and three counts of money laundering. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count.