A genetic testing scam defrauded Medicare out of $1 million — but the perp has now been arrested.
Seth Reyfuss has been arrested for using a fraudulent group called The Good Samaritans of America to mislead seniors and defraud Medicare.
Rehfuss went to nursing homes in New Jersey and hosted ice cream socials. During presentations, he convinced seniors to swab their mouths to conduct genetic tests for illnesses. Once the phony tests were administered, they were never sent to seniors’ actual physicians. Reyfuss then billed Medicare for thousands of dollars.
From NJ.com:
Rehfuss used advertisements on Craigslist to recruit doctors and physician assistants to get the tests authorized, through contractual relationships with The Good Samaritans of America. According to the criminal complaint, he paid off those providers with thousands of dollars per month to sign their names to requisition forms authorizing testing for patients they never examined.
Investigators said many of the test results were never sent to patients or their actual treating physicians.
While the scheme was launched in New Jersey, investigators said Rehfuss and others were working towards it into Georgia, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Michigan, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona.
Rehfuss faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Photo by AIDSVaccine via Flickr CC License
