In a sweeping national enforcement action, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace announced the indictment of eight individuals accused of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid through various schemes. Among the accused are seven individuals from Long Island, charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, paying illegal kickbacks, and money laundering.
Click here to read our previous coverage of this crime.
The defendants—Noman Ahmed of Port Jefferson Station, Adnan Arshad (also known as “Eddie”) of Mount Sinai, Rehman Diwan of Hicksville, Jessica Hendrickson of Patchogue, Jose Marte of the Bronx, Mohammed Saleem of Dix Hills, Faisal Shamsi (also known as “Jimmy”) of Massapequa, and Waqas Shamsi (also known as “Ricky”) of Massapequa—allegedly operated a fraudulent scheme through several transportation companies. These companies include 668 MTK Taxi LLC, All-Star Taxi LLC, Apollo Transportation, Sunrise Taxi LLC, and Transportation Solution NY Corp. d/b/a A1 Transport. From December 2020 to the present, the defendants purportedly paid Medicaid beneficiaries illegal kickbacks to use their transportation services, primarily to addiction treatment centers for methadone treatment.
“It does not matter if you are a trafficker in a drug cartel or a corporate executive or medical professional employed by a health care company, if you profit from the unlawful distribution of controlled substances, you will be held accountable,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Despite billing Medicaid for millions of dollars, the defendants often did not provide the transportation services. At least two claims were submitted for individuals who were deceased, and others for people who were hospitalized or incarcerated at the time. Additionally, undercover law enforcement officers, posing as Medicaid beneficiaries, were also fraudulently billed for transportation services they never received.
“These defendants have been charged with treating the Medicare and Medicaid programs like cash registers they could use to ring up withdrawals from the public treasury straight into their pockets,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace. “The enforcement actions announced today demonstrate my Office’s resolve to prosecute those who exploit our health care benefits programs for personal gain.”
Further court filings reveal that the defendants 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.
The prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Toporovsky of the Long Island Division and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Milito.
“My Office remains committed to stand and work with our federal partners in combatting crime and keeping our citizens safe,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Those who seek to illegally profit off the backs of hardworking U.S. taxpayers will be found out and brought to justice. The defrauding of our citizens will not be tolerated.”
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, emphasized the commitment to holding these defendants accountable.
“Their transportation scam ended today with law enforcement providing the defendants a free ride to the courthouse to face serious criminal charges,” he added.
This case is part of a larger national effort resulting in charges against 193 defendants, accused of causing over $2.75 billion in false billings to government programs. The Department of Justice seized more than $231 million in cash, luxury vehicles, gold, and other assets in connection with this enforcement action.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
