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$93-million vanishing act: Indian-origin lab owner declared US fugitive in Medicare fraud
A Texas laboratory owner accused of siphoning $65 million from Medicare through fake genetic-testing claims, using doctors' identities without their knowledge, has been declared a fugitive by US autho
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A Texas laboratory owner accused of siphoning $65 million from Medicare through fake genetic-testing claims, using doctors' identities without their knowledge, has been declared a fugitive by US authorities, who believe he is now in Hyderabad, India.
3 min readSep 15, 2026 05:43 AM IST First published on: Sep 14, 2026 at 05:00 PM IST
Khadeer Khan Mohammed (46) allegedly ran a sprawling $93M genetic-testing scam targeting Medicare. (Photo: X/ @OIGatHHS)
An Indian-origin laboratory owner is now on the US government’s fugitive list after allegedly orchestrating one of the more elaborate Medicare fraud schemes in recent memory, one built almost entirely on borrowed identities. Khadeer Khan Mohammed, 46, is accused of funnelling roughly $93 million (close to Rs 8.89 billion) in fake claims through his Texas-based laboratory, with authorities confirming at least $65 million of that was actually paid out before the scheme unravelled.
Mohammed owned American Premier Labs LLC, based in Richardson, Texas. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), he ran the operation from around August 2023 to October 2024, using it to push through Medicare claims that were, in the department’s words, never eligible for reimbursement in the first place.
— OIG at HHS (@OIGatHHS) September 11, 2026
The doctor-identity trick at the heart of the scheme
What made the alleged fraud unusual was how it was carried out. Investigators say Mohammed used the personal identifying details of several practising physicians, without their knowledge or consent, to submit claims for genetic tests on Medicare beneficiaries those doctors had never actually treated.
The borrowed credentials made the claims look legitimate on paper, allowing them to slip through Medicare’s system undetected for months. HHS said plainly that the tests in question “were not ordered by the physicians and were not used in the care of the beneficiaries.”
The scale of the payouts is what has drawn particular attention. In just 10 days in 2023 alone, Medicare is reported to have paid out around $13 million against claims investigators now consider fraudulent, a pace that points to a scheme operating at speed and largely unchecked before authorities caught on.
Manhunt now stretches to Hyderabad
US authorities have formally listed Mohammed as a fugitive, and HHS says it believes he may currently be in Hyderabad, India, well outside the reach of the Texas courts where the case originated. The Department of Health and Human Services and the FBI are now pursuing a criminal case against him, and investigators have already moved to claw back some of the alleged proceeds, seizing close to $6 million from bank accounts said to be under his control.
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The case remains under investigation, and it is not yet clear whether Indian authorities have been formally approached over Mohammed’s possible location.
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