Record Breaking Moments | Illinois | Covid-19 Fraud

It is always impressive to be part of a record-breaking moment and Jamil Elkoussa is breaking records. On July 1, 2025, more than 320 defendants were charged nationwide for allegedly participating in various health care fraud schemes involving more than $14.6 billion in alleged losses – the largest health care takedown in United States history. Elkoussa, along with 13others in Illinois, are allegedly responsible for more than $1.83 billion of the fraudulent claims billed to government programs and private health insurers in this takedown. Again, record breaking. Elkoussa’s health care scheme is the largest ever in the Northern District of Illinois.

Elkoussa operated and was president of Meridian Medical Staffin. In 2021, Meridian Medical Staffing entered into an agreement with an unnamed laboratory to run COVID-19 tests on samples supposedly collected by Elkoussa. Elkoussa paid people to pretend to be the workers collecting COVID-19 test specimens at the supposed sites, when no specimen collections happened there. Elkoussa sent supporting documentation to the Department of Health and Human Services claiming people worked for him, although they actually did not exist at his lab, and that supposed specimens sent to the lab for testing were taken by supposed Meridian employees.

Elkoussa himself submitted $233 million in fraudulent claims from Meridian Medical Staffin to the federal government, seeking reimbursement for COVID-19 tests that Elkoussa knew had not actually been collected from patients. About $154 million was paid to his laboratory. The lab then sent $60.3 million to an account controlled by Elkoussa, who dispersed the fraudulently gained proceeds to family members and friends, which were followed by tax forms claiming the payments were “legitimate” work.

Excellent job by the Department of Justice in this case.

Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Another Person Connected To Loretto Hospital Charged In $200 Million COVID Test Scheme” published By Block Club Chicago News on June 30, 2025.

Another person with ties to Loretto Hospital has been charged with fraud, with prosecutors saying he was part of a scheme to try to get more than $200 million from the federal government through fake COVID-19 testing. Jamil Elkoussa, 35, is charged with five counts of wire fraud, according to an indictment that was unsealed Monday.

The charges are the latest in a string of high-profile scandals for people with ties to Loretto, a safety-net hospital on the West Side. Earlier in June, prosecutors revealed former CFO and COO Anosh Ahmed had been charged as part of a conspiracy to defraud the government of nearly $300 million through fake COVID-19 testing.  Ahmed was also charged in 2024 with defrauding the hospital out of $15 million with his friend, business partner and Trump Tower neighbor, Sameer Suhail.