The founder and CEO of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Tiero was indicted in connection with billing insurers more than $100 million for at-home COVID-19 tests while claiming the tests were done in a lab, the Justice Department said Oct. 9.
Here are four things to know:
1. Marc Aaron Potash, 57, of Rockville, Md., faces one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, seven counts of healthcare fraud and five counts of conducting transactions in criminally derived proceeds. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison on each, the Justice Department said Oct. 9.
2. As part of an alleged conspiracy from January 2022 to May 2026, Mr. Potash and co-conspirators sent false emails, letters and paperwork to the Maryland Department of Health to get a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments certification for Tiero. According to the indictment, the documents falsely showed Tiero’s medical providers doing on-site COVID-19 testing at the company’s purported lab.
3. The group used the CLIA license to bill Medicare, Medicaid, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and other insurers, according to the Justice Department. The claims listed false dates of service, a fake place of service and a phony rendering provider. Prosecutors said Tiero actually shipped over-the-counter, self-administered tests to insured people nationwide. The claims allegedly brought in more than $50 million in insurance payments.
4. Prosecutors said Mr. Potash used the money to buy a Range Rover, a Mercedes-Benz and a $4 million property in Beallsville, Md. He also made two securities transfers of more than $4 million and $8 million, the Justice Department said.
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