South Carolina Laboratory Pleads Guilty and Agrees to Pay At Least $6.8M to Settle Allegations of Kickbacks 

Clinical laboratory LTD Holding LLC, formerly known as Labtech Diagnostics LLC (Labtech), in Anderson, South Carolina, and its founder and CEO Joseph Labash, of the United Arab Emirates, have agreed to pay at least $6.8 million to the United States to resolve False Claims Act allegations involving illegal kickbacks to doctors.  

Including this settlement, the Department of Justice has secured more than $11.5 million in civil False Claims Act settlements relating to Labtech, including recoveries from nine doctors. In addition to the civil settlement, Labtech has also agreed to plead guilty to five counts of offering and paying health care kickbacks in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. 

The settlement resolves allegations that they knowingly and willfully paid five types of kickbacks to induce referrals for laboratory testing. The United States previously resolved allegations that healthcare providers in several states, including South Carolina and North Carolina, received kickbacks to induce their laboratory referrals to Labtech. 

The government’s pursuit of these matters demonstrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the important tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477). 

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