$93-million vanishing act: Indian-origin lab owner declared US fugitive in Medicare fraud

Indian-origin laboratory owner Khadeer Khan Mohammed, 46, has been declared a fugitive in the United States after allegedly orchestrating one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in recent history. Mohammed, who owned American Premier Labs LLC in Texas, is accused of defrauding the government of approximately $93 million, with $65 million actually paid out before the scheme was discovered.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Mohammed ran the fraudulent operation from August 2023 to October 2024, submitting Medicare claims for genetic tests that were never ordered or used in the care of the beneficiaries. The scheme was carried out by using the personal identifying details of several practicing physicians without their knowledge or consent. These borrowed identities made the claims appear legitimate, allowing them to bypass Medicare's detection systems.

In a single month in 2023 alone, Medicare paid out around $13 million against claims investigators now consider fraudulent. The scale of the payouts has drawn particular attention to the severity of the scheme. US authorities have formally listed Mohammed as a fugitive, believing he may currently be hiding in Hyderabad, India. The Department of Health and Human Services and the FBI are pursuing a criminal case against him, and close to $6 million has already been seized from bank accounts believed to be under his control.