Two Georgia men were sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to submitting more than $522 million in fraudulent claims for unnecessary genetic tests to steal money from insurance programs, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 4.

Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers paid roughly $84 million on those claims, according to the DOJ statement.

Reyad Salahaldeen, 57, and Mohamad Mustafa, 28, were sentenced to 151 months and 36 months in prison, respectively.

“Under the guise of health care, these two fraudsters attempted to steal more than half a billion dollars from taxpayers through a web of sham contracts, lies, and bribes,” said Colin M. McDonald, Assistant Attorney for the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.

From 2018 through August 2020, Salahaldeen and co-conspirators paid kickbacks and bribes to a network of purported “marketers” to induce individuals to provide their health insurance information and DNA samples to obtain genetic tests, according to the statement. These costly tests were designed to predict the risk of cancer, adverse drug reactions, and other conditions.

Marketers used aggressive marketing, such as telemarketing and door-to-door solicitation, to collect DNA samples from thousands of people, regardless of their actual health needs, according to the indictment.

To make the tests look legitimate, they bribed doctors and telemedicine providers to sign off on test orders without ever seeing the patients, the indictment alleged.

A central part of the scheme involved paying kickbacks and bribes to ensure a steady stream of DNA samples and signed orders. Salahaldeen and co-conspirators used sham contracts and invoices for purported marketing services to hide these payments, according to the indictment.

After the indictment was returned and Salahaldeen learned of the warrant for his arrest, he sought to evade arrest by traveling from North Carolina to Texas and attempting to enter Mexico, according to the DOJ.

Salahaldeen was apprehended at the border when he falsely presented another person’s identification.

In addition to the prison sentences, Salahaldeen was ordered to pay more than $84 million in restitution and to forfeit $3 million from two bank accounts, as well as a 2019 GMC Yukon and properties in Texas and Georgia, according to the DOJ statement. Mustafa was ordered to pay more than $64 million in restitution, the DOJ statement said.

Eleven of Salahaldeen and Mustafa’s co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty in connection with the fraud scheme, according to the statement.

The DOJ announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division in April. The DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, operating since 2007, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion.