A man accused of masterminding a $547 million Medicare fraud scheme has been taken into custody after spending years as a fugitive, according to the FBI.
Federal officials announced Tuesday that 54-year-old Khalid Ahmed Satary, who had been on the FBI’s list of most wanted fraud suspects, was arrested and returned to the United States to face criminal charges. Satary was originally indicted in Louisiana in 2019.
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Prosecutors allege that Satary owned and operated diagnostic testing laboratories across the United States that billed Medicare for costly genetic tests that patients did not medically need.
Announcing the arrest, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the case involved a large-scale scheme that targeted elderly Americans and defrauded taxpayers.
“This defendant allegedly orchestrated a massive fraud scheme that preyed on thousands of elderly patients, deceiving them into undergoing expensive, medically unnecessary tests and fraudulently billing the government for more than half a billion dollars,” Blanche stated. “Thanks to the outstanding work of our partners at the FBI, this defendant was brought back from overseas to face justice in the United States. Our message to fraudsters is clear: If you steal from American taxpayers and exploit vulnerable patients, we will find and prosecute you, no matter where you are.”
According to investigators, Satary worked with dozens of patient recruiters, telemarketing call centers, and telemedicine companies to obtain cancer genetic testing samples from Medicare beneficiaries. Authorities said Medicare allegedly reimbursed between $10,000 and $20,000 for each genetic test sample.
Federal authorities said the conspiracy operated from 2016 through 2019 and resulted in more than $547 million in Medicare claims. Prosecutors also allege that Satary paid millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks and bribes to physicians and patient recruiters to keep the operation running.
Satary was arrested following his September 2019 indictment and charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks and bribes, and conspiracy to launder money.
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Authorities said that after being released on bond, Satary allegedly continued engaging in fraudulent activity by working with laboratories based in Houston to submit additional false genetic testing claims to Medicare.
A federal arrest warrant was issued in November 2022 after prosecutors said he violated the conditions of his pretrial release.
The FBI said Satary has used multiple birth dates from 1972 and has connections to Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Delray Beach, Florida; Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; Jordan; and the Israel/Palestine region. He will now face the charges filed against him in federal court.