It seems like this is happening almost daily now, as various investigations arrive at their conclusions and result in grand juries handing down indictments. In the latest, the owner of a testing laboratory in Illinois has been charged in a $66 million COVID-19 testing fraud scheme.
Illinois Laboratory Owner Charged in $66M COVID-19 Testing Fraud Scheme “This defendant allegedly exploited a global crisis for personal gain, fabricating hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests – then billing the taxpayer for it,” said @AAGMcDonald. “Every dollar taken from a federal health care program is a dollar taken from the American people. The Fraud Division will find those who steal from taxpayers, and we will prosecute them.” 🔗: https://t.co/WEtNZ9iUAx
— National Fraud Enforcement Division (@DOJFraudDiv) October 20, 2026
The post states:
Illinois Laboratory Owner Charged in $66M COVID-19 Testing Fraud Scheme
“This defendant allegedly exploited a global crisis for personal gain, fabricating hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests – then billing the taxpayer for it,” said @AAGMcDonald. “Every dollar taken from a federal health care program is a dollar taken from the American people. The Fraud Division will find those who steal from taxpayers, and we will prosecute them.”
That's as it should be. The Department of Justice has also issued a press release on the bust.
A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois returned an indictment yesterday charging Rajesh “Raj” Patel, 52, of Schaumburg, Illinois, with a $66.2 million fraud scheme in which Patel allegedly billed for hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests that were never performed.
“This defendant allegedly exploited a global crisis for personal gain, fabricating hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests – then billing the taxpayer for it,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s Fraud Division. “Every dollar taken from a federal health care program is a dollar taken from the American people. The Fraud Division will find those who steal from taxpayers, and we will prosecute them.”
Note that line, "...exploited a crisis for personal gain." The COVID-19 panic was replete with opportunities like this; the way things were so hurriedly slammed into place couldn't help but present opportunities for scammers, and it seems Rajesh Patel was ready, willing and able to cash in. But, he got caught, and we have to wonder if the scale of this scam was part of what tipped off the authorities. There's no information in the press release about these details, but a lot of these people get caught when they suddenly start living vastly beyond their means; we don't know that Patel was driving around in a Ferrari, but it wouldn't be surprising to learn that he was.
"Raj" Patel is now facing five counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a possible 20 years in prison. And frankly, whatever we may think of the whole COVID-19 debacle, the fact that this guy took cynical advantage of it for personal gain would sure indicate that the maximum sentence is appropriate.
So, yeah, another day, and another scammer is facing federal charges. We voted for this. Next month, let's vote for it again.