FBI Captures Fugitive Accused Of Leading $547 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
The FBI has captured a fugitive accused of orchestrating a massive $547 million Medicare fraud operation after he allegedly spent more than three years evading authorities.
Khalid Ahmed Satary, 54, was arrested in the Middle East on Monday and returned to the United States, according to the Justice Department. Authorities said he was carrying a fraudulent Mexican passport under a fake name when regional law enforcement partners took him into custody.
Satary was indicted in Louisiana in 2019 for allegedly participating in a scheme that billed Medicare for expensive and medically unnecessary genetic tests between 2016 and 2019. Prosecutors said some of the tests generated reimbursements of up to $20,000 each.
The alleged operation relied on patient recruiters, telemarketing call centers and telemedicine companies to obtain genetic samples through deceptive advertising. Satary is accused of paying millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks and bribes to doctors and recruiters who helped generate the fraudulent claims.
Satary was initially released on bond following his indictment and ordered to stay out of the medical industry. Federal officials allege he ignored that restriction and continued working with laboratories in the Houston area to submit fraudulent genetic-testing claims to Medicare.
A federal warrant was issued after Satary failed to appear for a court hearing in 2022 and fled the country. He appeared Tuesday in federal court in Virginia after being transported back to the United States.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Satary’s arrest marked the third capture from the bureau’s new Most Wanted Fraudsters list in just five weeks. Patel credited cooperation between federal agencies and international partners for locating and returning the suspect.
Satary faces charges including conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud, healthcare fraud, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States through illegal healthcare kickbacks. The most serious charges carry potential sentences of up to 20 years in federal prison.