SOUTH GEORGIA (WALB) - Two South Georgia residents are being charged in connection with alleged schemes to “defraud Medicare and other government programs,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a release.

The release said that on Tuesday, July 1, the District Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana’s strike force announced the charges. The charges filed in federal court were part of the DOJ’s 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.

According to the release, the charges are part of a strategically coordinated, nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in criminal charges against 324 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud and illegal drug diversion schemes that involved the submission of over $14.6 billion in alleged false billings and over 15 million pills of illegally diverted controlled substances. The defendants allegedly defrauded programs entrusted with the care of the elderly and disabled to line their own pockets.

“The scale of this Takedown is unprecedented, and so is the harm we’re confronting. Individuals who attempt to steal from the federal health care system and put vulnerable patients at risk will be held accountable. Our agents at HHS-OIG work relentlessly to detect, investigate, and dismantle these fraud schemes. We are proud to stand with our law enforcement partners in protecting taxpayer dollars and safeguarding patient care.”

The release said that in connection with the 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, over $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, and other assets were seized by the government.

The two South Georgia residents arrested in this scheme are:

• 46-year-old Leland Roberts, of Tifton, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare for over $30 million for medically unnecessary genetic testing, and to pay and receive kickbacks, the release said.
• 61-year-old Dr. Marion Lee, of Cordele, was charged by information with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in connection with a scheme to bill Medicare about $24 million for medically unnecessary genetic testing, and to pay and receive kickbacks.

The release said that both Roberts and Lee were involved in Luminus Diagnostics, a diagnostic laboratory located in Tifton.

According to the release, to ensure the false and fraudulent claims would be paid, the people charged allegedly designed the genetic testing order forms to be “dummy proof”—with prepopulated diagnosis codes and check-the-box panels—and frequently billed the tests through another laboratory where co-conspirators thought the claims were more likely to be approved, which they concealed via a sham contract, among other deceptive means.

“The charges announced yesterday reinforce the combined missions of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and our law enforcement partners, to aggressively, and relentlessly, pursue those perpetrators who attempt to victimize our nation’s citizens,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson. “Our office, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of fraud, and seek justice for those impacted by Health Care Fraud schemes.”

To read the entire release, click here.

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