Overview
- A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois returned an indictment charging Rajesh “Raj” Patel, 52, with five counts of wire fraud on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026.
- Prosecutors allege that between May 2021 and April 2022 Patel’s Hillside, Illinois, laboratory created about 380,000 fake negative PCR results tied to samples claimed by Meridian Medical Staffing Inc.
- Court filings say the lab submitted roughly $66.2 million in claims to the HRSA Uninsured Program, received about $44.1 million in payments, and that Patel personally obtained nearly $28 million.
- If convicted on the five wire fraud counts Patel faces up to 20 years in prison on each count, and Justice Department and FBI officials framed the case as part of a broader pandemic-era healthcare fraud enforcement effort.
- The indictment highlights weaknesses in rapid pandemic reimbursement programs because prosecutors say many listed patients did not exist or never provided samples, a gap that could prompt tighter HRSA oversight and further investigations.