Federal prosecutors have charged the owner of a Klamath Falls medical lab with health care fraud, alleging the man submitted $46 million in fake claims to Medicare Advantage plans over a six-month period.
Authorities allege Jahangeer Ali used his business, Oregon Clinical Laboratory, to collect more than $28 million from fraudulent payments.
According to court documents, investigators have yet to find a single person named in those claims who received lab services. Those contacted by investigators had never heard of Oregon Clinical Laboratory, according to court documents.
Authorities say Ali paid individuals to check mail and sit in the “nearly empty storefronts” of Oregon Clinical Laboratory and another business in Utah.
Ali is a Pakistani national who came to the U.S. on a student visa. He was awaiting a decision on asylum.
Authorities arrested Ali at the Los Angeles International Airport before he boarded a one-way flight to Turkey.
In a request to be released on bail, Ali claims he wasn’t the mastermind behind the scheme but rather tricked into participating by a friend in Pakistan.
“[Ali] is a vulnerable individual from Pakistan who came to the United States on a student visa, lost status after he could no longer afford tuition, applied for refugee status because of ongoing conflict in his home region, and was then recruited and manipulated by others who used his name and Social Security number to set up sham laboratory businesses,” according to court documents filed by his attorney.
Ali claims to have been threatened if he didn’t help in the fraud and he eventually decided to flee the country in fear. Authorities believe he planned to return to Pakistan.
A U.S. District judge has denied Ali’s request for release.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case.
Justin Higginbottom is a reporter with the Jefferson Public Radio newsroom. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
