Arkansas Lab Owner Indicted in $100 Million Billing Fraud

 A federal grand jury in the Western District of Arkansas has indicted Billy Joe Taylor, age 42, for an alleged scheme that billed Medicare for over $100 million dollars in fraudulent lab test claims between February 2017 and May 2021.

Taylor is the owner of several lab companies, including Vitas Laboratories (Barling, AR), Beach Tox (Torrance, CA), Nations Laboratory Services (Tecumseh, OK), Corrlabs (Southern Pines, NC) and Imaginus Diagnostic Laboratory (Spiro, OK).

Taylor allegedly used access to beneficiary and medical provider information from prior lab orders to submit fraudulent claims for urine drug tests, Covid-19 tests and respiratory pathogen panels, that were not actually ordered or performed. The complaint also alleges that hundreds of claims were submitted for beneficiaries after they had died or otherwise ceased providing samples.

Taylor used the proceeds of the fraud to live a lavish lifestyle, including purchasing numerous luxury cars, real estate, jewelry and guitars, according to the indictment.

Taylor is charged with 16 counts of health care fraud, and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally-derived property. Each of the counts is punishable by a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He is scheduled for his arraignment on November 23 before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.