{"id":281768,"date":"2021-03-22T11:31:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T15:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=281768"},"modified":"2021-03-22T11:32:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T15:32:24","slug":"san-francisco-poop-testing-startup-charged-with-fraud-likened-to-theranos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-francisco-poop-testing-startup-charged-with-fraud-likened-to-theranos\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Poop-Testing Startup Charged With Fraud, Likened To Theranos"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsan-francisco-poop-testing-startup-charged-with-fraud-likened-to-theranos%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=281768&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-2653.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A married couple who promised to disrupt the health care industry and received millions without having to prove success has been charged with multiple federal crimes, including fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Zachary Schulz Apte and Jessica Sunshine Richman met in 2012 at a tech incubator used by the University of California-San Francisco. There, the couple founded uBiome, a direct-to-consumer service they called \u201cGut Explorer\u201d that would analyze fecal samples sent by customers, SFGate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/crime\/amp\/ubiome-richman-apte-sec-filing-charges-fraud-16042042.php\">reported<\/a>. Consumers were promised that they would learn about their microbiomes \u2013 the micro-organisms that live in and on every human being \u2013 and be better able to understand health issues surrounding their digestive systems, such as irritable bowel syndrome. The Company said its other test, SmartGut, would be able to tell consumers which micro-organisms within them were causing their digestive issues.<\/p>\n<p>Within years, the uBiome added a new test, SmartJane, which analyzed vaginal samples and claimed it could screen for HPV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and overall vaginal health.<\/p>\n<p>Like defunct company Theranos, uBiome received praise and funding based on promises and unproven science, raising $350,000 in an initial crowdfund and later receiving funding from major Silicon Valley investors 8VC and Andreessen Horowitz, SFGate reported.<\/p>\n<p>The couple married in 2019, which the outlet noted was also the year their startup began to unravel. Prior to this, uBiome was considered the latest trendy startup, with Richman receiving <a href=\"https:\/\/goop.com\/wellness\/environmental-health-civics\/the-greater-goop-awards-the-innovators\/\">an award<\/a> from Gwyneth Paltrow\u2019s company, Goop. The company was once valued at $600 million.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2019, CNBC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/05\/06\/ubiome-suspends-clinical-operations-after-fbi-raid.html\">reported<\/a> that the FBI raided uBiome\u2019s offices, prompting the company to suspend its SmartGut and SmartJane tests. As the outlet reported, customers\u2019 insurance companies were billed numerous times for the same tests. One customer told the outlet that he sent in two samples, which were billed to his insurance company a whopping five times.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s part of the scheme the couple was charged with last week. They would bill insurance companies for reimbursements for their medical testing, sending multiple reimbursement claims for the same tests. As SFGate reported, uBiome \u201csought upwards of $300 million in reimbursement claims from private and public health insurers between 2015 and 2019.\u201d They company received $35 million in reimbursements for tests prosecutors said \u201cwere not validated and not medically necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMuch like the high-profile collapse of Elizabeth Holmes\u2019 Theranos blood-testing business, prosecutors allege Apte and Richman assured investors their medical tests were reliable when, in fact, they weren\u2019t,\u201d SFGate reported. In its complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the couple \u201cpainted a false picture of uBiome as a rapidly growing company with a strong track record of reliable revenue through health insurance reimbursements for its tests. UBiome\u2019s purported success in generating revenue, however, was a sham.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Apte and Richman were indicted last Thursday \u201con multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering,\u201d SFGate reported. In addition, the outlet reported, they \u201care also accused of falsifying documents, lying and concealing facts about their billing model when asked by insurance providers, as well as misleading and defrauding their investors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A married couple who promised to disrupt the health care industry and received millions without having to prove success has been charged with multiple federal crimes, including fraud.Zachary Schulz Apte &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2310917,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-2653.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"San Francisco Poop-Testing Startup Charged With Fraud, Likened To Theranos","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-2653.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"San Francisco Poop-Testing Startup Charged With Fraud, Likened To Theranos","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2310917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}