The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Brad Paul Schaeffer on Thursday for allegedly defrauding Medicare and Medicaid for over $148 million in urine drug tests, according to a press release.
The DOJ charged the 48-year-old Louisianan suspect with “one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, five counts of health care fraud and three counts of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions,” the DOJ press release noted. (RELATED: DOJ Convicts Foreign National Over Massive Drug Trafficking Conspiracy)
Man Charged in $148M Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Schemehttps://t.co/BLEcRX7wna pic.twitter.com/UJfLXMjynl
— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) November 30, 2023
Schaeffer was the chief executive officer and co-owner of a diagnostic laboratory company called MedComp Sciences LLC, according to the DOJ. He allegedly directed his company to fraudulently bill Medicare and Medicaid for the testing of at least 15 different substances in urine testing between January 2013 and August 2022. Such testing was allegedly done irrespective of the patient’s treatment plan and history and without request from the referring provider.
Schaeffer, through his company, allegedly filled out and sent faked order forms, allegedly wrote off patient co-pays and allegedly bribed “physicians disguised as laboratory ownership interests,” the DOJ said. Schaeffer is also accused of using these ill-gained proceeds for his own benefit by renovating a pool and pool house “in his own backyard” and restoring a vehicle.
If found guilty, Schaeffer could face 10 years in prison per count, the DOJ stated.
The DOJ has doubled down on fraud this year, charging over 3,000 people with committing nearly $1.4 billion in fraud over COVID relief funds back in August. COVID unemployment fraud has likely cost taxpayers up to $31 billion, California’s Employment Development Department estimated back in 2021.