Items from a COVID-19 test kit are displayed for a photograph.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Federal prosecutors have criminally charged a Georgia man for allegedly conspiring to defraud federal and private health-care benefit programs “by submitting fraudulent testing claims” for coronavirus and genetic cancer screenings, authorities announced Monday.
The man, 49-year-old Erik Santos is accused in a complaint by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey of one count of conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, and a single count of conspiring to commit health care fraud. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of both counts.
Prosecutors said that during a phone call on March 19, Santos explained how he viewed the coronavirus outbreak as a chance to make money.
“[W]hile there are people going through what they are going through, you can either go bankrupt or you can prosper,” Santos said on that call, according to prosecutors.
During the same…
