A notorious fugitive on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters List for allegedly stealing more than half a billion dollars from Medicare was captured after an international manhunt.
Khalid Satary, 54, was cuffed in the Middle East on Monday after more than three years on the lam for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to defraud Medicare of over $547 million, the US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.
Satary was indicted in 2019 in the Eastern District of Louisiana for allegedly billing Medicare for expensive and unnecessary genetic tests between 2016 and 2019, according to prosecutors.
The fraudster conspired with dozens of patient recruiters, telemarketing call centers, and telemedicine companies to craft deceptive marketing campaigns, illegal kickbacks, and bribes to create cancer genetic test samples that were reimbursed for up to $20,000 a pop, authorities alleged.
Satary is accused of billing Medicare a whopping total of over $547 million and paying millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks and bribes to doctors and patient recruiters.
He was sprung free on bond after his indictment with a condition to no longer work in the medical field.
But Satary allegedly continued conspiring with Houston-based laboratories in Texas to submit the phony genetic testing claims to Medicare, the DOJ said.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Satary in 2022, but the quack failed to appear for a court hearing and allegedly fled the country.
He was found to have a fake Mexican passport with a phony name when regional partners busted him on Monday.
Satary was flown to the US and appeared in court in the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday.
He was hit with a slew of charges, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks and bribes, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
“The arrest of Khalid Ahmed Satary and return to the U.S. is the third Most Wanted Fraudster capture from this FBI and our partners in just 5 weeks – continuing the historic run of success for this new initiative,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.
“Satary was indicted in 2019 on charges of Health Care Fraud Conspiracy, allegedly stealing $547 million from 2016-2019 by fraudulently billing Medicare for expensive and medically unnecessary genetic tests, using deceptive marketing campaigns, illegal kickbacks, and bribes,” Patel said.
“This is another subject who exploited a program dedicated to helping our most vulnerable and instead stole for himself. Satary has been on the run since 2022, but we got him thanks to great work and coordination from the interagency and our overseas partners,” he added.
The FBI announced the creation of the Most Wanted Fraudsters List in early June. Satary is the third suspect arrested on the new list, Fox News reported.
Satary faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, 10 years for health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and five years for conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive kickbacks.
