WASHINGTON — A former business associate of James Biden has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud Medicare of $51 million through a lab-testing company linked to the first brother.
Keaton Langston, 39, admitted to using pharmacies, durable medical equipment companies and a laboratory in which he had a financial interest to bill for unnecessary tests and orders, the Justice Departmentdisclosed last week in court filings.
James Biden, 75, has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing and has sought to distance himself from Langston, whose father Joey Langston also was associated with the first brother.
Keaton Langston, a former business associate of James Biden, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud Medicare of $51 million. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Keaton Langston founded Fountain Health, a lab company, in May 2017 and offered its services to rural hospital operator Americore Health, which later went bankrupt.
Records show James Biden was involved with Fountain Health in 2017 before connecting with Americore, which provided him in $600,000 in loans in 2018 as he allegedly vowed to use his political connections to secure foreign investors.
James passed $200,000 of the funds to Joe Biden in an alleged loan repayment.
Shortly after the lab