An East Texas physician pleaded guilty on Monday for his role in a $5.5 million over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 test fraud scheme.
According to court documents, Dr. Mark Mazzare, 57, of Tyler, Texas, admitted to purchasing Medicare beneficiary identifiers (BINs) to fraudulently bill Medicare for OTC COVID-19 test kits. The beneficiaries had not requested the tests, which were shipped to them regardless of need.
Mazzare entered into a sham agreement with a marketer to hide the purchase of BINs as “lead packages,” which included identifiers and fake audio recordings of beneficiaries purportedly requesting the tests. Between November 2022 and June 2023, Mazzare submitted over $5.5 million in false claims to Medicare for the tests, resulting in approximately $3.44 million in payments.
Mazzare pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and to purchase, sell, and distribute Medicare beneficiary identification numbers. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. A sentencing date will be set at a later time.
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) led the investigation, with assistance from the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Brynn Schiess of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Austin Wells for the Eastern District of Texas.
