Richard Reid, co-owner of Bellevue, Wash.-based Northwest Physicians Laboratory, was convicted of five felonies in connection with a kickback scheme for medical testing, the Justice Department said March 30.
Mr. Reid helped NWPL bag more than $3.7 million in kickback payments by directing urine drug test specimens to two labs that could bill the government for testing them, the Justice Department said. The government paid the two labs more than $6.5 million for the tests.
Because NWPL was physician-owned, it could not test urine samples for patients covered by government health programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare. Mr. Reid and other co-conspirators concealed payment of the kickbacks for the tests by describing the fees as payments marketing services, the Justice Department said, even though no marketing services were performed.
Each of Mr. Reid's five felony convictions is punishable by up to five years in prison but could result in less time. Sentencing is set for July 12, the Justice Department said.