Man charged in cancer-testing scheme

Riverside resident, 43, is accused of getting $10M from bogus Medicare charges and kickbacks

A Riverside man is accused of using a network of health care providers and genetic cancer tests to bilk $10 million in fraudulent Medicare charges and kickbacks, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Adam Wayne Owens, 43, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to violate the federal anti-kickback statute, a law prohibiting healthcare providers from advising patients for the providers’ own financial gain.

Prosecutors say between November 2018 and January 2020, Owens owned two marketing companies based in California that conducted business with medical testing companies. Owens used the companies to identify vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries to target for at-home cancer genetic tests, court documents state.

Owens and other defendants had relationships with health care providers who wrote prescriptions for the tests and provided them to the testing companies without treating the patients for any symptoms, according to the indictment. The patients, who were sent tests whether they wanted them or not, did not have prescriptions for the tests from their own doctors.

Once the tests were completed and returned, prosecutors allege, Owens’ conspirators submitted claims for reimbursement to Medicare.

In exchange for Owens’ role in the conspiracy, his companies received kickback payments ranging from $1,700 to $2,000 for each genetic cancer test resulting in a Medicare reimbursement, the indictment states.

To conceal the scheme, prosecutors said, the testing companies wired the kickback payments to a shell company in New Zealand, which then wired them to one of Owen’s companies.

Owens then entered into a fraudulent contract with the New Zealand shell company, which made it appear that one of his companies had been hired for marketing and referrals, the indictment says. He also is accused of generating false invoices with bogus referral services for the company.

It’s unclear where in California Owens’ companies were located. The other defendants in the case are residents of New Jersey.

If convicted, Owens could face up to 25 years in prison.