An Indian national living in Des Plaines, Illinois, pleaded guilty Friday to a Medicare fraud scheme that billed taxpayers $227 million for COVID-19 test kits that seniors never ordered and never received, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Syed Murtuza Kablazada, 36, pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of health care fraud, the Justice Department said in a press release. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, and a federal judge will set his sentence at a later date, according to the department.
Syed Murtuza Kablazada, an Indian national residing in Des Plaines, Illinois, caused the submission of $227 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for test kits that he knew were never requested by or shipped to the Medicare beneficiaries.
He has pleaded guilty and… https://t.co/JBGWxrvlB9
— Colin M. McDonald (@AAGMcDonald) October 30, 2026
Prosecutors said the scheme ran for about six months beginning in January 2023. During that time, Kablazada and his co-schemers acquired three Chicago-area laboratories, named Chicago Care, V Care and Al-Ameer, according to the Justice Department’s account of court documents and statements made in court.
The department said Kablazada then paid about $11 million to a purported telemarketing company based in Pakistan to obtain the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries. Using that information, the labs submitted $227 million in false claims for over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits that Kablazada knew were never requested or shipped, prosecutors said. Medicare paid out about $136 million on those claims, according to the Justice Department.
To hide their involvement, Kablazada and his co-schemers paid themselves through overseas money transfers and unlicensed money transmitters, and they used part of the proceeds to buy luxury vehicles, the department said. The Times of India also reported that investigators said the money was moved through overseas transfers and unlicensed money transmitters.
As part of his plea agreement, Kablazada agreed to forfeit more than $46 million in fraud proceeds that law enforcement seized from 10 bank accounts, according to the Justice Department. That figure is roughly a third of what Medicare paid out, based on the department’s own numbers.
Who brought the case
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division announced the plea alongside Special Agent in Charge Ryan Whalen of the FBI Chicago Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ethridge of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the department said. He highlighted the case in a post on X, saying Kablazada caused the submission of $227 million in false claims for test kits that were never requested or shipped.
The FBI Chicago Field Office and HHS-OIG investigated, and the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section is prosecuting the case with help from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, according to the Justice Department. The Hindustan Times, which also reported the plea, noted that the department created its dedicated Fraud Division on April 7.
Part of a wider fraud crackdown
The Justice Department said its fraud work supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which Vice President JD Vance chairs, aimed at fraud, waste and abuse in federal benefit programs. The department said its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, now made up of nine strike forces, has charged more than 6,200 defendants since 2007 who together billed federal health programs and private insurers more than $45 billion.
For taxpayers, the Kablazada case is a stark example of how stolen personal data from overseas can be turned into nine-figure bills against a program meant for American seniors.
No sentencing date has been announced, according to the Hindustan Times.
Sources
Sources cited
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/indian-national-pleads-guilty-227m-medicare-fraud
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/indian-national-pleads-guilty-to-227-million-medicare-fraud-in-us-over-fake-covid-19-test-kit-claims/articleshow/135395799.cms
- https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/indian-national-syed-murtuza-kablazada-admits-role-in-227-million-medicare-covid-fraud-medical-data-bought-from-pakistan-101793406469998.html
Sources
- Original post: Colin M. McDonald (@AAGMcDonald) on X, Oct 30, 2026
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