A serial entrepreneur couple who cashed in on the COVID testing boom, spending their millions on luxury cars and a $1.36M mansion, are now at the center of a federal probe.
Longtime entrepreneurs Akbar Ali Syed, 35, and his wife Aleya Siyaj, 29, have attached themselves to many trending business ventures over the years, including a donut shop, wedding photography and axe-throwing.
But their latest venture, the Center for COVID Control, a COVID testing business, is now under federal investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Oregon Department of Justice and multiple state health departments after numerous complaints from across the country, according to an investigation by USA Today.
It was reported that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, conducted surveys at multiple Center for COVID Control testing sites and 'the main laboratory' in November and December and found 'non-compliance' with numerous standards, affecting more than 400,000 tests.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services documented numerous 'deficiencies' at the company's main lab, Doctors Clinical Lab, which has been reimbursed more than $124 million from the federal government's COVID-19 uninsured program, according to public data obtained by USA Today.
The company, which has 300 testing locations nationwide that offer free same-day rapid test results, stated that at its peak, it collected more than 80,000 tests per day at the pop-ups, many of which are reportedly in sheds and storage units.
A serial entrepreneur couple who cashed in on the COVID testing boom, spending their millions on luxury cars and a $1.36M mansion (pictured), are now at the center of a federal probe
Akbar Ali Syed, 35, and his wife Aleya Siyaj, 29, of Rolling Meadows, Illinois are longtime entrepreneurs who have attached themselves to many trending business ventures over the years
Throughout the pandemic, there has been a struggle in the United States to find quick and accurate testing.
So when the couple saw a market for a new venture, Siyaj, who is referred to by the company as the 'CEO and founder,' registered the business, the Center for COVID Control, in December 2020.
But by the end of 2021, the company began to experience trouble when the Omicron variant caused a surge in cases, according to USA Today. As testing increased, the Center for COVID Control became overwhelmed, revealing cracks in the system.
'CCC was founded to meet a critical market need to establish testing centers where COVID tests could be provided to patients rapidly and safely to minimize delay, and let people get on with their daily activities,' Siyaj said in a statement posted on the read more from dailymail.....
