After his laboratory billed the federal government at least$ 14 million for COVID-19 assessments that were never really performed, the original owner of a Chicago COVID-19 testing laboratory has admitted guilt to one count of wire fraud.
Zishan Alvi, 45 of Inverness, ran the laboratory on the Northwest Side from November 2020 through February 2022, offering PCR and swift COVID-19 tests, according to the plea deal filed Monday in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
However, the test informed people that their tests were negative for the disease starting in March 2021, actually though their reports had not yet been processed, according to prosecution. According to the plea deal, the laboratory even informed patients that their findings were inconclusive.
The test “received more individual specimens than it could test for COVID-19″ during a wave of the omicron variant in the fall of 2021 through January 2022,” the plea agreement states. At days, “test samples were piled up in garbage bags” at the facility.
At Alvi’s training, test “employees threw aside unknown, weeks-old specimens, but released claimed test results to patients as bad for COVID-19”, according to the plea agreement. According to the prosecution, But Alvi instructed staff and professionals to act the national Health Resources and Services Administration for checks that were never submitted. The Health Resources and Services Administration was given the authority to manage the finances for COVID-19 tests administered by individuals without health plan.
On Tuesday evening, Alvi’s prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment right away.
Alvi was  , actually indicted , on 10 counts of wire fraud and one count of robbery of government finances.
As part of the plea deal, Alvi has agreed to sacrifice almost$ 8 million as well as a 2021 Land Rover Range Rover. Alvi is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 7 for line scam, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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