Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Pendleton man sentenced to prison for using fake COVID test result to obstruct justice

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that on October 11, 2022, Orin J. Kemp, 45, of Pendleton, S.C. pleaded guilty in an Anderson County Court to a Greenville County charge of ‘Obstruction of Justice,’ a common law offense. Kemp was sentenced to six years in prison at the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

An investigation by the S.C. Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (SCMFCU) revealed that on April 23, 2021, Kemp obstructed and prevented the administration of justice by presenting a counterfeit ‘positive’ COVID 19 test result to a Court of General Sessions in Greenville County. Kemp submitted the fake test result when requesting a continuance to a motion by the SCMFCU to revoke his bond on other charges. The motion to revoke bond was continued based on the fake COVID test results. The original charges he was facing were Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult and Financial Transaction Card Fraud and Conspiracy in Greenville County. Those charges were dismissed because of this guilty plea and prison sentence.

Pursuant to federal regulations, the SCMFCU has authority over Medicaid provider fraud; abuse and neglect of Medicaid beneficiaries in any setting; and the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals residing in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. 

The SCMFCU receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,318,568 for federal fiscal year 2023. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $772,852 for FFY 2023, is funded by South Carolina.