A drug testing lab in Gwinnett County that had been in the center of a campaign donation bundling scandal is up for auction amid a federal investigation.
Confirmatrix Laboratory in Lawrenceville was raided by the FBI last November. Two days later, the firm filed for bankruptcy, citing a drop in business tied to lower Medicare payments for urine drug screenings, its bread-and-butter lab procedure.
A federal bankruptcy court filing this week indicates the firm is headed for auction.
A 2015 study found Confirmatrix among the most expensive drug labs in the nation, with an average per-patient cost of $2,406. The national average per-patient cost was $751.
In 2014, employees and executives with the company came under federal scrutiny when they combined to give more than $80,000 to U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, who was seeking the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate.
The company was founded by Khalid Satary, a Palestinian national the federal government has been trying to deport since his release from prison in 2008. Satary served more than three years in federal prison for running a counterfeit CD operation the feds valued at $50 million.
After his release he got into the lucrative field of urine testing. An attorney who represents Satary and his son said he has heard nothing about the federal investigation since December.
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