A California resident has admitted to his involvement in a kickback scheme that led to over $10 million in losses to Medicare, according to Vikas Khanna, Attorney for the United States. Adam Wayne Owens, 44, from Riverside, California, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz in Newark. He faced one count of conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
Court documents reveal that between November 2018 and January 2020, Owens engaged in a scheme involving testing companies that provided at-home cancer genetic tests (CGX). Owens managed marketing companies in California which he used with his conspirators to identify Medicare beneficiaries for CGX testing. They supplied personal and medical details of these beneficiaries to testing companies, leading to the dispatch of CGX test kits. Once completed tests were returned, claims for reimbursement were submitted to Medicare by Owens' conspirators. His companies received kickbacks ranging from $1,700 to $2,000 per reimbursed CGX test.
To hide the operation, kickback payments were wired by testing companies to a New Zealand company and then transferred to bank accounts controlled by Owens in the U.S. A sham contract was created with the New Zealand company making it appear as if one of Owens’ marketing firms was providing legitimate services. Invoices falsely claimed hourly referral services were being rendered when payments depended solely on Medicare-reimbursed CGX tests.
The fraudulent activities resulted in more than $10 million loss for Medicare. Conspiracy charges related to violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute could lead up to five years imprisonment and fines reaching $250,000 or twice the financial impact of the crime.
Vikas Khanna credited several agencies for their roles in investigating this case: FBI special agents under Brian Driscoll; Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General under Naomi Gruchacz; Department of Defense's Office of Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service under Patrick J. Hegarty; and Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General under Christopher F. Algieri.
The prosecution is handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Garrett J. Schuman and Katherine M. Romano from the Health Care Fraud Unit along with Senior Trial Counsel Barbara A. Ward from Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Unit.