Boston Public Official Agrees to Plead Guilty to COVID-19 Fraud

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it took action against two people accused of COVID-19-related fraud in separate cases, including a Boston public official who agreed to plead guilty, according to announcements on Wednesday and Thursday.

In Thursday’s announcement, DOJ officials said in a press release they charged a Boston official with COVID-19 fraud—allegedly illegally obtaining public funds that were supposed to be for pandemic-related efforts.

Reuben Taylor, the head of Boston’s Municipal Protective Services, agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud, the DOJ said.

According to the DOJ, citing an indictment, Taylor allegedly submitted an application for a $20,844 Paycheck Protection Program loan in which he claimed to work as a car mechanic in 2019.

He also allegedly fabricated two federal applications, including a Form 1040, and claimed he received no wages in 2019 and instead had received $99,863 as an independent contractor while he was working as a car mechanic, the DOJ said in a press release.

But the department said Taylor had actually submitted a Form 1040 claiming he earned $97,561 in wages as a Boston municipal police officer and also attached his Form W-2 from the city.

Further, federal officials alleged in August 2021 that he submitted an application to seek forgiveness for a loan for payroll payments on the alleged mechanic business. In response, the Small Business Administration forgave the loan in September of that year, according to the DOJ.

The DOJ said the wire fraud charge carries a sentence of as many as 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

A day earlier, the department announced the conviction of Florida laboratory vice president, Joseph Rodriguez, who also owned a separate marketing company with COVID-19-related fraud.

Rodriguez was convicted by a federal jury of taking advantage of patients who sought COVID-19 tests during the pandemic but were given more blood tests that they did not want or need, billing Medicare more than $15 million, officials said.

Rodriguez, a 58-year-old Coral Springs resident, was accused of exploiting elderly patients at country clubs in the West Palm Beach area who “were desperate for COVID-19 nasal swab and blood antibody tests,” the DOJ stated.

Instead of signing up just to get a nasal swab and the antibody tests at drive-through testing sites organized by Rodriguez and his company, they were also “subjected to tens or even hundreds of unnecessary blood tests that they did not want or need, and that no doctor ordered as required,” a news release said.

The tests included heavy metal testing for mercury, arsenic, and cadmium, as well as hormonal testing. The process was billed to Medicare as if they were deemed medically necessary by a physician, according to the DOJ.

Nearly 2,000 patients were treated across nine different country clubs over a four-month period, the DOJ said.

In April, the DOJ established an anti-fraud task force, dubbed the National Fraud Enforcement Division, which has charged dozens of people since it was established.