Eight Charged for $68M Medicaid Fraud

WASHINGTON—An indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn, New York, charging eight defendants for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud Medicaid of approximately $68 million through the operation of two social adult day cares and a home health care financial intermediary. Through these operations, the scheme involved paying kickbacks and bribes for services that were not provided.

“As alleged in the indictment, these defendants orchestrated a years-long scheme to defraud Medicaid of tens of millions of dollars for social adult day care and homecare services for seniors that they did not provide,” said Nicole Argentieri, principal deputy assistant attorney general and head of the justice department’s criminal division. “The defendants allegedly paid cash bribes and kickbacks to recruiters and Medicaid recipients as part of a scheme to enrich themselves at the expense of vital programs for senior citizens. (The) charges make clear that the criminal division will not tolerate schemes that brazenly steal from federal health care programs.”

According to the court documents, Zakia Khan and Ahsan Ijaz—both from Brooklyn—owned two social adult day cares, Happy Family Social Adult Day Care Center, Inc. and Family Social Adult Day Care Center, Inc. Additionally, they owned a financial intermediary, Responsible Care Staffing, Inc., which permits family members of Medicaid recipients to receive payment for assisting recipients with daily living activities for the New York Medicaid Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Service program (CDPAP). 

Beginning around October 2017, marketers Elaine Antao, Omneah Hamdi and Manal Wasef supposedly referred Medicaid recipients to Happy Family, Family Social and/or Responsible Care in exchange for kickbacks and bribes. In turn, the marketers reportedly paid kickbacks and bribes to Medicaid recipients for social adult day care and CDPAP services that Happy Family, Family Social and Responsible Care billed to Medicaid, which were not actually provided or were induced by kickbacks and bribes. 

Ansir Abassi, Ansir Zaib and Amran Hashmi supposedly managed Happy Family, Family Social and the marketers. To carry out the kickback schemes, Khan, Antao, Ijaz, Abassi and Hamdi allegedly used business entities to launder the fraud proceeds and generate the cash used to pay kickbacks and bribes. Seema Memon, an employee of Happy Family who was previously charged by complaint on July 1, was also indicted.

“Social adult day care and home health services are meant to help seniors, but as alleged, the defendants allegedly turned their businesses into a brazen cash grab of millions of dollars from the Medicaid program,” said Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “My office is committed to investigating and prosecuting those who plunder taxpayer-funded, federal health care programs dollars while purporting to offer health care services.” 

“The defendants saw nothing beyond the dollar signs associated with their crimes and, in turn, defrauded the U.S. government of $68 million in welfare funds meant for one of our country’s most vulnerable populations,” said William Walker, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York. “(This) announcement underscores the HSI New York El Dorado Task Force’s unrelenting focus on dismantling and disrupting financial fraud schemes that exploit the American public and hurt our economy.”

Khan is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, three counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, paying health care kickbacks, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. 

Abassi, Antao, Hamdi and Ijaz are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. 

Hashmi is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, three counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks and paying health care kickbacks. 

Memon is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks and paying health care kickbacks. 

Wasef is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks.