{"id":28605,"date":"2026-09-25T10:52:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T10:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=28605"},"modified":"2026-09-25T10:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T10:52:20","slug":"americans-ordered-what-were-advertised-as-no-cost-covid-tests-online-prosecutors-say-their-insurance-information-was-then-used-to-bill-more-than-500-million-for-services-that-were-never-provided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=28605","title":{"rendered":"Americans ordered what were advertised as &#8216;no cost&#8217; Covid tests online; prosecutors say their insurance information was then used to bill more than $500 million for services that were never provided"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134480892,imgsize-151726,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provided-ai-image.jpg\" alt=\"Americans ordered what were advertised as 'no cost' Covid tests online; prosecutors say their insurance information was then used to bill more than $500 million for services that were never provided\" title=\"Fast Lab allegedly used customers\u2019 insurance details to bill for COVID-19 tests that were never provided. (AI image)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Fast Lab allegedly used customers\u2019 insurance details to bill for COVID-19 tests that were never provided. (AI image)\">Fast Lab allegedly used customers\u2019 insurance details to bill for COVID-19 tests that were never provided. (AI image)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Americans who ordered Covid-19 tests advertised as &#8216;no cost&#8217; online during the pandemic were allegedly at the centre of a healthcare fraud scheme that generated more than $500 million in false claims, according to the US Department of Justice.<!-- --> Prosecutors said the company behind the tests used customers\u2019 insurance information to bill government-backed healthcare programmes for medical services that were never provided.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>Hasan \u201cLucas\u201d Seyhun, 45, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Seyhun was the Chief Operating Officer of New York-based Fast Lab Technologies, LLC, which offered people &#8216;no cost&#8217; Covid-19 tests that could be ordered through its website during the pandemic.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>According to court documents, Fast Lab allegedly used the insurance details provided by customers to submit claims for Covid-19 testing services that had not actually taken place. The claims included services linked to antigen tests, saliva samples and PCR testing. Prosecutors said the company claimed that medical professionals had observed antigen tests, collected saliva samples and conducted PCR testing, even when those services had not been provided.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/>The case centres on how the insurance information of people seeking Covid-19 tests was allegedly used after they placed their orders. Prosecutors said Seyhun worked with previously charged defendants Cemhan \u201cJimmy\u201d Biricik, Fast Lab\u2019s CEO, and Dr Martin Perlin, the company\u2019s Medical Director, to carry out the scheme. Seyhun also admitted that, as COO, he helped orchestrate the submission of millions of dollars in fraudulent healthcare claims.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Over $500 million in false claims<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>The US Attorney\u2019s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said the scheme resulted in more than $500 million in fake claims being submitted to government-backed healthcare programmes. Seyhun admitted that the fraud resulted in at least $35 million in illicit payments.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>He has agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of $4,313,153. The amount represents the money he personally received from the scheme.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>Prosecutors also said the company sometimes submitted claims before customers had even received their Covid-19 test kits. <!-- -->US Attorney Jerome F Gorgon Jr said the alleged conduct took advantage of the fear and isolation surrounding the pandemic.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/>\u201cRipping off the American taxpayer is bad enough. Using the fear and isolation of the Covid pandemic to do it is sickening,\u201d Gorgon said. \u201cNot only did Seyhun and his co-conspirators defraud the American public of hundreds of millions of dollars\u2019 worth of fake services, but they were so confident in their scheme that they routinely submitted claims for payment before test kits were even delivered to the customer,\u201d Attorney Gorgon added.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>According to The Justice Department, Seyhun\u2019s guilty plea was part of a wider investigation into pandemic-related healthcare fraud. The investigation involved several federal and state agencies, including the FBI Detroit Field Office, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General and the Michigan Attorney General\u2019s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>How the billing worked<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"33\"\/>The alleged fraud involved several types of Covid-19 testing services. Prosecutors said Fast Lab submitted claims stating that antigen tests had been observed by medical professionals. Antigen tests are used to detect proteins from the virus.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"35\"\/>The company also allegedly claimed that saliva samples had been collected by medical personnel. Those samples were then allegedly billed as having undergone PCR testing. <!-- -->PCR tests detect genetic material from the virus and were widely used for Covid-19 diagnosis during the pandemic.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"39\"\/>The government said the use of customers\u2019 insurance information allowed the company to seek payments for services connected to tests that people had ordered online.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"42\"\/>Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division said Seyhun and his colleagues had exploited public trust during the pandemic.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"45\"\/>\u201cAt a time when Americans were scared for their families and their futures, Hasan Seyhun saw an opportunity to turn a national crisis into his own personal payday,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cInstead of providing the American people with the assistance they needed during a critical time, Seyhun and his colleagues exploited their trust, and lined their pockets from fraudulent insurance claims,\u201d he added.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"47\"\/>The FBI also said the scale of the alleged scheme affected healthcare funding and public trust. Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said, &#8220;A scheme of this magnitude undermines public trust and diverts critical healthcare dollars away from the people and programs who need it most. Today\u2019s guilty plea is an important step toward accountability for conduct that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent billings,\u201d Runyan said.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/us\/americans-ordered-what-were-advertised-as-no-cost-covid-tests-online-prosecutors-say-their-insurance-information-was-then-used-to-bill-more-than-500-million-for-services-that-were-never-provided\/articleshow\/134480199.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fast Lab allegedly used customers\u2019 insurance details to bill for COVID-19 tests that were never provided. (AI image) Americans who ordered Covid-19 tests advertised as &#8216;no cost&#8217; online during the pandemic were allegedly at the centre of a healthcare fraud scheme that generated more than $500 million in false claims, according to the US Department [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi-150x150.avif","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi-300x169.avif","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Fast Lab allegedly used customers\u2019 insurance details to bill for COVID-19 tests that were never provided. (AI image) Americans who ordered Covid-19 tests advertised as &#8216;no cost&#8217; online during the pandemic were allegedly at the centre of a healthcare fraud scheme that generated more than $500 million in false claims, according to the US Department [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":4,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi.avif",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi-300x169.avif",300,169,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fast-lab-allegedly-used-customers-insurance-details-to-bill-for-covid-19-tests-that-were-never-provi-150x150.avif",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}