An Illinois man has pleaded guilty to participating in a fraudulent COVID-19 testing scheme, as reported by the Department of Justice.
Zishan Alvi, 45, of Inverness, Illinois, operated a laboratory in Chicago specializing in COVID-19 testing. From February 2021 to February 2022, he orchestrated a scheme to submit false claims to the Department of Health and Human Services for COVID-19 tests that were either never conducted or yielded inconclusive results.
Court documents reveal that the laboratory falsely issued negative COVID-19 test results to patients, even in instances where tests were incomplete or results were indeterminate. Alvi directed the lab to submit claims to the Department of Health and Human Services for these tests, resulting in over $14 million in fraudulent payments.
Alvi pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 7, 2025. He faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, with the final sentence to be determined by a federal judge according to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory considerations.
The investigation into this case is ongoing, with efforts led by federal authorities.
