The indictment, filed on a Tuesday in a federal court in Charleston, accuses Timothy Priddy, a former director of the state Bureau for Public Health’s Center for Threat Preparedness, of providing false statements to federal agents in August 2022. and during grand jury testimony the following month.
According to prosecutors, the federal inquiry sought to ascertain whether one or multiple vendors who provided COVID-19 testing and mitigation services to the state either overbilled or received illegally from federal funds distributed through the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR).
The concerned vendor allegedly provided 49,000 COVID-19 test results from October 2020 to March 2022 but invoiced for 518,000 test kits. However, Priddy reportedly approved 13 invoices totaling $34 million.
Under the terms of the contract, the vendor was required to provide diagnostic testing using nasal swabs at residential youth facilities, hospices, pharmacies and emergency medical services workers who required frequent testing.
The vendor, who remains unnamed, is reported to be an out-of-state entity providing test kits, lab analysis, and community testing services.
In a statement provided to The Epoch Times, DHHR spokeswoman Jessica Holstein said that the department had “cooperated fully with federal investigators over the past several months and will continue to do so. DHHR’s contract with Maverick for diagnostic testing services ended in October 2022.”
“DHHR takes extremely seriously its responsibility as a steward of taxpayer dollars and is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability,” she continued.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice did not return The Epoch Times’ request for comment. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said that he would “let the courts make a decision on his fate.”
