EVERETT — A 35-year-old man was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for a health care fraud scheme connected with the operations of an Everett diagnostic testing laboratory.
Mohammed Asif, an Indian national, conspired with others to bill Medicare for tests that hadn’t been ordered or performed, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. The tests were for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
Asif owned the laboratory, American Labworks LLC, the release said. Records show the company was formed in October 2021 and dissolved in March 2025, according to the release. The company’s Medical Test Site license expired in December 2023.
American Labworks billed Medicare more than $8 million for testing services, the release said, and Medicare paid out more than $1.1 million to the lab. Asif was ordered to pay that amount in restitution.
“It was money that was siphoned out of the Medicare system that is designed to treat the elderly and the poor,” U.S. District Judge James Robart said at the sentencing hearing. “(The defendant) lacks moral character as a knowing participant in the fraud … He is someone the public needs to be protected from.”
Enrollees sent more than 200 complaints to Medicare from June 2024 and 2025 about billing for tests they never received, the release said.
In one instance, an enrollee found Medicare paid American Labworks $545 for COVID-19 tests from August 2023 to March 2024, and they had not received any COVID-19 tests in that time period. Patients said they hadn’t heard of the physicians listed in the billing records, and the physicians said they had not sent patients to American Labworks, according to the release.
Some records showed a patient receiving tests after the patient’s or physician’s death, the release said.
“Like so many other fraudsters who take advantage of such situations, Mr. Asif used the COVID-19 pandemic to steal from taxpayers for his own gain,” said W. Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI Seattle field office, in the release. “In just a couple of years, his company billed Medicare millions of dollars for laboratory testing that never happened.”
Asif controlled the American Labworks bank account, the release said. In May 2024, he withdrew $260,000. Soon after, he returned to India. He had been in the U.S. on a student visa. In March 2025, he returned to the U.S. as investigators were uncovering the scheme. On April 10, he was arrested at Chicago O’Hare International Airport while attempting to board an international flight, the release said. On April 23, a grand jury returned the indictment of Asif. On Sept. 4, Asif pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
Asif will likely be deported after his prison term, the release said.
The release said Asif conspired with others to commit the fraud, and the investigation is still ongoing.
“Mr. Asif participated in a scheme to steal more than a million dollars from Medicare — funds that are meant to be used for important medical care,” U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said in the release. “Regrettably, schemes like this one are not unique. Medicare is a constant target of fraud, and the harm to the United States and taxpayers is substantial.”
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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