MARIETTA, Ga. — A Marietta laboratory owner is facing both criminal charges and a civil lawsuit after state investigators accused him of submitting fraudulent genetic testing claims to Georgia Medicaid.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced this week that his Medicaid Fraud and Patient Protection Division has indicted Maged Awad, 61, of Marietta, on three counts of medicaid fraud and filed a civil complaint against both Awad and K&S Clinical Diagnostics Consulting Services, LLC, the laboratory he operated.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the civil complaint alleges that from May 2020 through at least June 2024, Awad and the laboratory knowingly submitted false claims to Georgia Medicaid for genetic screening tests that lacked legitimate physician orders.
Investigators allege that in some cases, patients for whom tests were billed had never even provided DNA samples.
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The criminal indictment, returned in Cobb County, alleges Awad fraudulently obtained more than $300,000 in Medicaid payments through genetic testing claims that falsely identified medical professionals as having ordered tests they never requested.
“This is just one step in our ongoing efforts to fight fraud that exploits patients and the Medicaid program at large,” Carr said in a statement. “Those who seek to cheat the system will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Attorney General’s Office said the case is part of its broader effort to combat fraud, waste and abuse within Georgia’s Medicaid program.
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