Georgia Man Sentenced for $24M Kickback and Medicare Fraud Conspiracy

A Georgia man was sentenced today to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay over $7.2 million in restitution for his role in a scheme to pay and receive illegal kickbacks in exchange for inducing Medicare beneficiaries to accept medically unnecessary genetic tests.

According to court documents, Patrick C. Moore Jr., 48, of Peachtree City, engaged in a kickback scheme in which he instructed a network of recruiters to target and induce Medicare beneficiaries to accept genetic tests that were not medically necessary, not provided as represented or not eligible for reimbursement. Moore received approximately $4.3 million in kickbacks and bribes from his co-conspirators in exchange for the referral of beneficiary insurance information, DNA specimens and accompanying doctors’ orders for genetic testing. Moore, in turn, paid illegal health care kickbacks and bribes to his network of beneficiary recruiters. To conceal the scheme, Moore created sham invoices documenting fabricated numbers of hours worked instead of the per-referral payments he received in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. Laboratories associated with Moore and his co-conspirators billed Medicare approximately $24 million and were paid approximately $7.2 million on the kickback-induced claims for the unnecessary genetic tests.

In May 2025, Moore pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive illegal health care kickbacks.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Margaret Heap for the Southern District of Georgia; Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Dallas Regional Office; Special Agent in Charge Kelly Blackmon of the HHS-OIG Atlanta Regional Office; and Special Agent in Charge Paul W. Brown of the FBI Atlanta Field Office made the announcement.

The HHS-OIG and FBI investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Ethan Womble and Benjamin Smith of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Thompson for the Southern District of Georgia prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.