Who is James Shuford Price III? Raleigh businessman pleads guilty in $60M health care fraud case
James Shuford Price III, a 59-year-old Raleigh man, pleaded guilty in federal court to paying illegal kickbacks to his referrals. californiaand filed false federal tax returns, according to the lab. Ministry of Justice (Department of Justice). Here’s who he is and what we know about him.
Who is James Shuford Price III?
James Shuford Price III owns and operates Gold Star Laboratories (GSL), a Los AngelesCalifornia.
Between August 2023 and June 2025, his lab submitted more than $85 million in false claims to Medi-Cal and more than $11 million in false claims to Medicare for COVID-19, influenza and RSV multi-panel tests.
These false claims based on fraudulent test samples resulted in Medi-Cal and Medicare paying GSL more than $60 million, the Ministry of Justice said.
what james shufford price iii did
As part of the program, GSL uses people called “collectors” in California and elsewhere to collect test samples from Medi-Cal and Medicare beneficiaries.
Under Price’s direction, GSL illegally paid these collectors based on the number of samples they provided, prosecutors said. The lab paid more than $17 million to collectors between August 2023 and January 2025. In return, the Collector provided GSL with a large number of fraudulently obtained fake test samples, which included identifying information theft.
Within the first 6 months of the program, approximately 96% of GSL’s Medi-Cal claims related to fraudulent test authorizations from an out-of-state physician whose identity was stolen and misused. In February 2024, Price said he suspended GSL’s test operations for a month to “clean up” the billing issues. However, prosecutors said the lab resumed the same fraudulent behavior after it restarted in March 2024. From late March 2024 to January 2025, approximately 92% of GSL’s Medi-Cal claims were based on false test authorizations created using information stolen from five different clinicians.
Price also directed GSL to sign written contracts with collectors that falsely promised fixed payments and prohibited volume-based payments to make the lab appear to be complying with the law, the DOJ said. However, prosecutors said the kickback scheme continued behind the scenes, resulting in millions of dollars in payments. During the course of the investigation, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office seized more than $6 million in assets related to the fraud.
Price also admitted to filing a false federal income tax return for 2022 because he failed to report income from multiple sources, including money received from victims related to an earlier investment scam, according to the Justice Department.
what happens next
The U.S. Department of Justice said Price faces a statutory maximum of 13 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He also has to pay restitution to Medi-Cal, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies.
“Stealing taxpayer funds that should be used to help legitimate beneficiaries is a despicable, dirty act,” said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle. “We have a message for fraudsters who steal federal funds: We will catch, prosecute and imprison you. The crooks. Never win.”
“This guilty plea demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting federal health care programs and the taxpayers who fund them,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis. “The orchestration of a $60 million Medicare fraud scheme was a serious violation of the public trust.”
