Identity Theft Fueled COVID Test Grift

Healthcare worker vaccinating woman in clinic setting

A Raleigh lab owner just admitted he helped steal more than $60 million from taxpayer-funded healthcare programs using fake COVID and flu tests and illegal kickbacks.

Story Snapshot

A North Carolina man pleaded guilty to a massive Medi-Cal and Medicare fraud and kickback scheme.
His California lab used fake contracts and paid “collectors” $17 million for bogus test samples tied to identity theft.
The lab billed more than $96 million in false COVID, flu, and RSV tests, pulling over $60 million from taxpayers.
He now faces up to 13 years in prison, fines, asset seizures, and major restitution to federal programs.

Lab Owner Admits Massive Taxpayer-Funded Fraud

Federal prosecutors say 59-year-old Raleigh resident James Shuford Price III pleaded guilty in federal court to paying illegal kickbacks for referrals to his California laboratory, Golden Star Labs, and to filing a false federal tax return. Price’s lab submitted more than $85 million in false claims to California’s Medi-Cal program and over $11 million in false claims to Medicare for multi-panel tests covering COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus. Those fake claims led government programs to send more than $60 million to the lab.

At sentencing, Price faces a statutory maximum of 13 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. He will also be required to pay restitution to Medi-Cal, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Internal Revenue Service, and other victims. Prosecutors also say federal authorities seized millions of dollars in assets tied to the scheme, showing how much cash can be stripped from taxpayers when fraud goes unchecked in huge government healthcare systems.

Kickbacks, Fake Contracts, and Identity Theft

According to the Department of Justice, Golden Star Labs hired so-called “collectors” in California and other states to gather test specimens from people covered by Medi-Cal and Medicare. Under Price’s direction, the lab paid these collectors based on how many samples they delivered, a clear violation of federal healthcare laws banning payments tied to referral volume. Between August 2023 and January 2025, the lab paid more than $17 million to these collectors, a huge amount of money used to drive the fraud machine.

Prosecutors say the collectors did not just find real patients in need of tests. Instead, they supplied bulk quantities of bogus samples obtained under fraudulent conditions, including widespread medical identity theft. Golden Star Labs then billed Medi-Cal and Medicare for testing these sham samples, pulling millions from programs meant to protect seniors, disabled Americans, and low-income families. In some cases, stolen doctor identities were used to make the claims look legitimate, turning honest physicians into unwitting pawns in the scheme.

Fake Compliance and a False Tax Return

To hide the illegal kickbacks, Price directed Golden Star Labs to sign written contracts with collectors that pretended to follow the law. These contracts claimed the lab would pay fixed fees and would not base payments on the number or value of referrals. In reality, prosecutors say the lab kept paying collectors on a per-specimen basis anyway, using the phony paperwork as cover while the kickback scheme continued underneath. The result was millions of dollars in government payouts built on fake compliance and real corruption.

Price also admitted that he filed a false federal income tax return for 2022 by failing to report income from multiple sources, including money tied to earlier fraudulent activity. That means the scheme did not just attack healthcare programs; it also cheated the tax system that funds core government services, adding one more layer of dishonesty on top of the kickbacks and false claims. The case shows how complex fraud often crosses several areas at once—billing, taxes, contracts, and identity theft.

Why This Case Matters for Conservative Voters

This case fits a larger pattern of healthcare fraud that watchdog groups say drains between 3% and 15% of global healthcare spending every year. Kickbacks, fake billing, and medical identity theft are common tactics used to exploit massive government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. When bad actors fabricate lab tests and bill for services that never happened, they do more than waste money. They crowd honest patients, strain already stretched budgets, and give big-government defenders an excuse to demand even more control instead of fixing abuse.

SO MUCH FRAUD AND CORRUPTION IN THE USA.

Raleigh Man Pleads Guilty in $60 Million Medi-Cal, Medicare Kickback Scheme https://t.co/6mzqup5U9u

— MickiAnn (@MickiAnnOH) June 27, 2026

For conservatives, the facts here highlight two key points. First, strong law enforcement and honest oversight are needed to protect taxpayer money when government runs large programs. Second, every dollar stolen by fraudsters like Price is a dollar that cannot support families trying to afford real care, or seniors counting on Medicare to work as promised. Cases like this should push leaders to tighten fraud controls, punish kickbacks, and rethink how giant federal programs can be made smaller, simpler, and less inviting to criminals.