Bought Medicare Patients' Data From a Pakistan Company, Billed $227 Million for COVID Tests: Illinois Man Pleads Guilty

Published Nov. 2, 2026. Case statuses are current as of that date.

According to the Justice Department, personal information on hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries was bought from a company based in Pakistan and used to bill the program for over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits that were never requested by or provided to them.

Syed Murtuza Kablazada, 36, an Indian national living in Des Plaines, Ill., pleaded guilty on Oct. 30, 2026, to two counts of health care fraud in that scheme, the Justice Department announced [1]. According to prosecutors, three Chicago-area laboratories billed Medicare $227 million, and Medicare paid about $136 million.

Kablazada has been convicted by his guilty plea. He has not been sentenced.

How the scheme worked

According to court documents and statements made in court, as summarized by the Justice Department [1]:

1. Buying labs. Over six months beginning in January 2023, Kablazada and his co-schemers acquired three Chicago-area laboratories: Chicago Care, V Care and Al-Ameer.
2. Buying patients' data. Kablazada paid about $11 million to "a purported telemarketing company based in Pakistan" to obtain personally identifiable information for hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries.
3. Billing for nothing. Using that information, he caused the laboratories to submit $227 million in false and fraudulent claims for over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits "that he knew were never requested by or shipped to the Medicare beneficiaries." Medicare paid about $136 million.
4. Hiding the money. To conceal their role, Kablazada and his co-schemers "paid themselves through overseas money transfers and unlicensed money transmitters," and used some of the proceeds to buy luxury vehicles.

The release does not name Kablazada's co-schemers, and we are not naming anyone else.

The plea and what comes next

Kablazada pleaded guilty to two counts of health care fraud. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit more than $46 million in fraud proceeds that law enforcement seized from 10 bank accounts, according to the Justice Department. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. No sentencing date was announced; a federal judge will decide any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors [1].

The FBI Chicago Field Office and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General investigated. Deputy Chief Patrick Mott and Trial Attorney Claire Sobczak Pacelli of the Fraud Division's Health Care Fraud Section are prosecuting, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Andres Almendarez of the Northern District of Illinois assisting.

Why this matters to people on Medicare

Schemes like this one do not always involve contact with the patient at all. Someone's Medicare number can be billed for items they never ordered, and the first clue may be a line on a Medicare Summary Notice or an online claims history.

That has two costs. Taxpayer money is drained from the program, and false claims can end up in a beneficiary's records. Medicare advises people to "compare the dates and services on your calendar with the Medicare statements you get to make sure you got each service listed and that all the details are correct" [2].

Red flags

These are general warning signs of Medicare billing fraud and medical identity theft, not findings about any defendant:

• Charges on your Medicare statement for tests, kits or equipment you never ordered or received.
• Packages of tests or medical supplies you didn't ask for, which can be a sign someone is billing Medicare in your name.
• Unsolicited calls offering "free" tests, braces or supplies in exchange for your Medicare number.
• Anyone asking you to "confirm" your Medicare number by phone, text or email when you didn't contact them first.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Check your claims. Review your Medicare Summary Notices or your account at Medicare.gov regularly.
2. Report suspected fraud to 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or online through Medicare, and to the HHS Office of Inspector General at oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud [2][3].
3. Protect your Medicare number like a credit card number. Don't give it to unsolicited callers.
4. If your information was misused, you can also report identity theft to the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov.
5. Age 60 or older? The DOJ Elder Justice Hotline is 1-833-372-8311 (1-833-FRAUD-11).

Case status (as of Nov. 2, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Nov. 2, 2026	Source
Syed Murtuza Kablazada, 36, Des Plaines, Ill.	Federal (court not named in the release; prosecuted by the DOJ Fraud Division's Health Care Fraud Section with help from the N.D. Ill. U.S. Attorney's Office)	Pleaded guilty Oct. 30, 2026, to two counts of health care fraud; agreed to forfeit more than $46 million; sentencing date not yet announced	[1]

Statuses can change.

Sources

1. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Indian National Pleads Guilty to $227M Medicare Fraud," Oct. 30, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/indian-national-pleads-guilty-227m-medicare-fraud
2. Medicare.gov, "Reporting Medicare fraud & abuse," accessed Nov. 2, 2026. https://www.medicare.gov/basics/reporting-medicare-fraud-and-abuse
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, "Report Fraud," accessed Nov. 2, 2026. https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/

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