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The FBI on Saturday raided the Illinois headquarters of a COVID-19 testing company that is currently under investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice.
The company, called Center for COVID Control, boasted 300 sites nationwide—including three in the Portland area—before it temporarily shuttered on Jan. 14. In the past two weeks, the company has garnered scrutiny nationwide.
Saturday’s FBI raid, first reported by NBC, follows investigations launched by a handful of state attorneys general, including Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. (Disclosure: Rosenblum is married to the co-owner of WW’s parent company.) The company is also under investigation by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees labs and testing sites, and by the Better Business Bureau across five states.
The Oregon Department of Justice first received complaints about the site in October. However, it did not launch a formal investigation until the company came under public scrutiny two weeks ago.
Last week, WW reported on how the company slipped through the cracks of weak federal and state oversight. Its three Portland-area sites, two which were sheds placed in parking lots, were operating since at least October until they shuttered, citing staffing shortages.
State health officials have received no testing results from the company or its partner lab, Doctors Clinical Laboratory.
The lab—which is run by and shares the same Illinois headquarters with Center for COVID Control—has received $124 million from the federal government for offering tests to the uninsured.
Portlanders who visited one of the three sites relayed their experiences to WW last week. All of the people WW spoke with had received negative test results, even those who had tested positive shortly thereafter at another facility. They expressed doubt about the efficacy of the tests and how their samples were being handled by employees.
Center for COVID Control posted a statement to its website on Jan. 20 announcing it would be extending the pause on operations. Once again, it primarily cited staffing issues: “As previously announced, CCC is using this operational pause to train additional staff on sample collection and handling, customer service and communications best practices, as well as compliance with regulatory guidelines.”
The company has also emerged with a new message: It plans to give out free at-home COVID tests “to the community.”
The company initially announced a one-week pause Jan. 14 and planned to open back up Jan. 22. That day was when the FBI raided its Illinois headquarters.
Center for COVID Control did not immediately respond to WW’s request for comment.
