CEO Jailed for Medical Fraud
CEO sentenced to eight years for COVID test fraud
- Mark Schena, the CEO of Arrayit Corporation, was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $24 million in restitution for defrauding investors and a scheme to commit health care fraud related to COVID-19 and allergy testing.
- Schena lied about inventing a technology that could test for any disease with a single drop of blood and falsely claimed that Arrayit could be valued at $4.5 billion.
- Despite Arrayit being on the verge of bankruptcy, Schena continued to defraud investors with false promises of multimillion-dollar contracts and other business developments.
- He orchestrated an illegal kickback and health care fraud scheme, submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare and private insurance for unnecessary allergy testing, in violation of the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act.
- In early 2020, Schena falsely announced that Arrayit had developed a COVID-19 test, and concealed from investors and patients that the test was not accurate enough to receive an Emergency Use Authorization for use the U.S.