The former co-owner of a Los Angeles County medical laboratory was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years behind bars for his role in a fraud scheme that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic and resulted in false billings and theft from federal programs.
Imran Shams, 65, of Glendale, was also ordered to pay $31.7 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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He pleaded guilty one year ago to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. His wife, Lourdes Navarro, 65, pleaded guilty in October to the conspiracy count and a wire fraud charge.
Shams and Navarro ran Baldwin Park-based Matias Clinical Laboratory Inc., also known as Health Care Providers Laboratory. The lab performed COVID- 19 screening tests for nursing homes and other facilities with vulnerable elderly populations, as well as primary and secondary schools.