Bold Reality: a medical fraud case shows how easily taxpayer money can be siphoned away—and the repercussions are severe. Here’s a rewritten, expanded account that preserves all key details while clarifying the story for easier understanding.
A 35-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to two years in a U.S. federal prison for running a Medicare fraud scheme that diverted more than $1 million through an Everett-based diagnostic laboratory.
Mohammed Asif, who owned American Labworks LLC, was found guilty in the U.S. District Court in Seattle of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Prosecutors allege that Asif and his associates billed Medicare for COVID-19 and respiratory illness tests that patients never received and that physicians never ordered. The lab submitted claims totaling more than $8 million, with Medicare paying over $1.1 million before the scheme was halted.
Judge James Robart ordered Asif to pay $1,174,813 in restitution. He described the scheme as money siphoned from the Medicare system, which is intended to help the elderly and those in need, and stated that Asif lacked moral character as a knowing participant in the fraud.
Investigators documented more than 200 complaints between mid-2024 and 2025 from people who were billed for tests they never took. In several cases, bills were submitted under the names of physicians who said they had no connection to the lab.
The fraud extended to claims filed even after patients or doctors had died, according to federal filings.
American Labworks was incorporated in October 2021 and dissolved in March 2025. Its testing license had already expired in December 2023. Financial records show Asif controlled the company’s bank account and withdrew $260,000 in May 2024 before traveling to India. He returned to the U.S. in March 2025 as investigators closed in and was arrested on April 10 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport while attempting to board an outbound flight.
A grand jury indicted him later that month, and he pleaded guilty on September 4. Federal officials characterized the fraud as part of a broader pattern of pandemic-era schemes targeting taxpayer-funded programs. U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd described the case as an instance of stealing Medicare funds meant for critical medical care. FBI Seattle Field Office Chief W. Mike Herrington noted that in just a couple of years, Asif’s company billed Medicare millions of dollars for laboratory testing that never occurred.
Authorities indicated that Asif, who was in the United States on a student visa, is likely to be deported after serving his prison term. The investigation into his co-conspirators remains ongoing, with work continuing to identify and prosecute others involved in the scheme.
