Notorious Fugitive Arrested in Connection With $547 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

A foreign national who had been on the run since 2022 has been arrested on criminal charges related to his alleged orchestration of a scheme to defraud Medicare of more than half a billion dollars through unnecessary genetic testing. Khalid Satary, 54, was charged by indictment in 2019 in the Eastern District of Louisiana as part of one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes ever charged by the Department of Justice.

According to the indictment, from 2016 to 2019, Satary owned and operated several diagnostic testing laboratories throughout the United States that billed Medicare for expensive and medically unnecessary genetic tests. He allegedly conspired with dozens of patient recruiters, telemarketing call centers, and telemedicine companies to utilize deceptive marketing campaigns and illegal kickbacks and bribes to generate cancer genetic test samples that reimbursed between $10,000 and $20,000 per sample. Through his laboratories, Satary billed Medicare for over $547 million and allegedly paid millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks and bribes to doctors and patient recruiters.

Following his indictment, Satary was released on bond over the government’s objection. While on bond, he allegedly conspired with Houston-based laboratories to continue submitting fraudulent genetic testing claims to Medicare. In December 2022, a federal arrest warrant was issued after Satary failed to appear for a court hearing and allegedly fled the country.

On July 20, 2026, he was apprehended by regional partners in the Middle East and was found to be in possession of a fake Mexican passport under a fake name. Satary was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters List on June 23, 2026, and was apprehended less than a month later, despite being on the run for over three years. This case reflects the government’s unwavering commitment to pursuing healthcare fraudsters wherever they may hide and holding them accountable for schemes that exploit vulnerable patients and defraud American taxpayers.