Mounir R. Khouri, 55, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Brattleboro, VT, in a scheme to defraud trucking companies by violating DOT drug testing procedures and policies at his company, Mobile Testing Services, Winooski, VT, between 2008 and 2009.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Khouri represented himself as a third-party administrator, capable of assisting transportation companies in complying with DOT regulations requiring that urine samples be obtained by trained collectors and shipped to licensed labs with a completed Control and Custody Form (CCF) for drug testing. Drug test results must be reviewed by a certified Medical Review Officer (MRO), a licensed physician trained in substance abuse.
Khouri subverted the role of the MRO by completing the CCFs with his company’s address so he would receive test results that were not properly reviewed by an MRO. Khouri then falsely indicated to fleet customers that the test results had received a MRO review. In cases of positive results, Khouri acted as the MRO though not qualified to do so, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
When the drug testing lab contracted by Khouri stopped testing due to nonpayment, he prepared false CCFs for untested specimens, misrepresenting that the specimens had tested negative and billing his clients for services not provided.
Khouri was charged with mail fraud, for mailing invoices to customers for services not provided, and for making false statements to a federal agency, based upon the forms which indicate testing of specimens that were in fact untested.
A mail fraud conviction carries a maximum 20-year term of imprisonment. A false statement conviction carries a maximum five-year term of imprisonment. Sentencing is scheduled for May 29, 2012.
