Man Admits To Role In $3.5M COVID-19 Testing Scheme At Parsippany Lab

PARSIPPANY, NJ — A New York City man has admitted to asking a Morris County laboratory for kickbacks when he provided them COVID-19 samples as part of a conspiracy to defraud federal health care benefits programs, officials said.

Federal officials accused David Weathers of the Bronx and his co-defendants of defrauding Medicare and other health care benefit programs of more than $3.5 million. Weathers owned and operated MedtechCares, Inc., which claimed to "connect individuals and organizations with access to convenient and affordable Covid testing."

Officials said Weathers and his co-conspirators solicited kickbacks in exchange for providing COVID-19 test samples to Metpath Laboratories, a clinical laboratory located in Parsippany that conducted the testing.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger's office said the 61-year-old pleaded guilty on Monday to an indictment, which charged him with conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.

In late 2022, federal officials also charged the operators of Metpath Laboratories, Abid Syed of East Hanover and Tariq Din of Saddle River, in the scheme. Muhammad Aurangzeb of Robbinsville was also charged with conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

“It took fraudsters no time at all to hunt for a get rich quick scheme when the pandemic started,” FBI – Newark Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said. “Weathers and his conspirators set their eyes on the federal government and the funding made available under the CARES Act. He now admits to asking a lab in New Jersey for kickbacks when he provided COVID-19 test samples, which were ultimately paid for by federal funding. Anyone who believes they will get away with their crimes as time passes should take note of this case, you will be brought to justice.”

According to officials, Syed and Din operated Metpath Laboratories from April 2021 to 2022. Through Metpath, Syed and Din paid kickbacks to “marketers” – including Weathers and Aurangzeb – for referrals of COVID-19 test samples to Metpath, Sellinger said, with kickbacks ranging from $5 to $30 per referral for Weathers and Aurangzeb.

Syed and Din then tried to make the payments appear to be for legitimate operations expenses. In one instance, Syed altered the amount of the kickback payment to make it appear as if the marketer was a “consultant” for Metpath, Sellinger said, adding that Weathers’ company, MedtechCares Inc., also issued false invoices to Metpath, when in fact the payments were completely for the referrals.

In total, Metpath received more than $3.5 million in insurance reimbursements from federal health insurance programs for COVID-19 test samples referred by Weathers and Aurangzeb, Sellinger said.

The charge of conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison. The maximum fine for each count is $250,000, or twice the gross profit or loss caused by the offense, whichever is greatest, federal officials said.