Eight individuals have been indicted for orchestrating a multi-million dollar Medicaid fraud scheme, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Tuesday. The defendants allegedly billed Medicaid for ambulette services that were never performed, including claims for individuals who were deceased and undercover law enforcement officers posing as Medicaid beneficiaries.
The defendants, Noman Ahmed of Port Jefferson Station, Adnan Arshad of Mount Sinai, Rehman Diwan of Hicksville, Jessica Hendrickson of Patchogue, Jose Marte of the Bronx, Mohammed Saleem of Dix Hills, Faisal Shamsi of Massapequa, and Waqas Shamsi of Massapequa, are accused of exploiting the Medicaid system for personal enrichment, defrauding the program out of millions of dollars.
The defendants allegedly paid illegal kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries to ensure they would order medical transportation services exclusively from the their transport companies. These services often involved transportation to addiction treatment centers, purportedly for necessary methadone treatments.
Court filings reveal that the defendants generally did not provide the ordered medical transportation services. Instead, they submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid, billing for services that were never rendered. Undercover law enforcement officers, acting as Medicaid beneficiaries, were among those falsely billed; these officers were never actually transported to the addiction treatment centers and never received any treatment. Additionally, some claims were for individuals who were either deceased, hospitalized, or incarcerated.
The defendants also engaged in a scheme to artificially inflate claims by instructing Medicaid beneficiaries to list false home addresses. These false addresses were further away from the addiction treatment centers than the beneficiaries’ true home addresses, resulting in longer distances and higher reimbursement rates. The defendants directed beneficiaries to seek treatment at centers in New York City, despite the availability of closer addiction treatment centers on Long Island.
Over the course of the scheme, the transportation companies billed Medicaid over $16 million for trips to just three addiction treatment centers in New York City.
Adnan Arshad and Mohammed Saleem allegedly used the illicit proceeds to purchase approximately 15 additional transport vehicles, multimillion-dollar homes, and luxury vehicles.
Charges include conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks, paying health care kickbacks, and money laundering.
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, said that the defendants exploited Medicaid for personal gain, treating the program like a personal piggy bank.
“Their transportation scam ended today with law enforcement providing the defendants a free ride to the courthouse to face serious criminal charges,” he added.
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