The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the conviction of a Florida man for defrauding the government of more than $500 million in healthcare fraud.
Hasan “Lucas” Seyhun, 45, of Miami, Fla., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in a nationwide scheme.
Seyhun, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the plot, stole millions of dollars through fake claims to government-backed healthcare programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At 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,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Instead of providing American people with the assistance they need during a critical time, Seyhun and his colleagues exploited their trust and lined their pockets from fraudulent insurance claims.”
False Claims Through COVID-19 Testing
According to court documents, Seyhun served as COO of a New York-based Fast Lab Technologies, LLC (Fast Lab). During the pandemic, the company offered COVID-19 tests to individuals at “no cost.” Consumers would order the tests online through the company’s website.
The company then used its customers’ insurance information to bill for services that they never provided, such as antigen exams observed by medical professionals, saliva samples collected by medical personnel, and claims that PCR testing had been done on those samples.
Trump Administration's Crackdown on Fraud
Seyhun’s arrest comes 14 months after the DOJ charged Fast Lab’s CEO, Cemhan “Jimmy” Birick of Boca Raton, Fla., and the company’s Medical Director, Dr. Martin Perlin over the same scheme.
The National Fraud Enforcement Division’s effort also comes amid the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud’s recent string of initiatives cracking down on COVID-related fraud and healthcare fraud.
Recently, Vice President JD Vance announced that the Trump administration will stop Obamacare enrollment for roughly 760,000 individuals believed to have fraudulently.
