In a case that underscores the ongoing battle against health care fraud, Brooklyn resident Zakia Khan has admitted to her role in a major scheme that siphoned off $68 million from Medicaid funds. According to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York, Khan, the owner of two social adult day care centers in Coney Island, plead guilty to charges related to running this fraudulent operation from approximately October 2017 through July 2024, a period during which she paid out bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid recipients.
Under the pretense of providing necessary social adult day care services, Khan manipulated Medicaid billing for services that were often not provided or only offered due to unlawful inducements, she now faces up to 15 years in prison at her sentencing, and in her plea agreement, Khan has agreed to forfeit properties and assets totaling around $5 million; this includes over $300,000 in cash and gold jewelry, all of which had been seized by law enforcement during a search of her home.
The disheartening details of the scheme reveal a calculated exploitation of government-run health care programs that are vital to the support of America's elderly and vulnerable populations, United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr., emphasized the government's commitment to safeguarding these funds from fraudsters, stating, "Our Office and the Justice Department take seriously our responsibility to protect government funds from the clutches of fraudsters and will vigorously prosecute corrupt health care operators like the defendant," as related by the U.S. Attorney's Office press release.
In addition to Khan, a former entourage of employees and co-conspirators are also under the judicial spotlight; her co-defendants Seema Memon and Amran Hashmi have already pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing while eleven additional co-defendants are awaiting trial, an unsettling revelation that reveals the extent and possible depth of this fraudulent activity and complicity in this expansive case, where extensive investigation and coordination between various departments, including the HHS-OIG, HSI New York, and NYPD, was necessary to bring these charges to light; special thanks were voiced for the investigators and prosecutors involved in the meticulous work of this complex case.
The fallout of this elaborate fraud not only measures in the millions of dollars lost but also in the betrayal of public trust, a sentiment echoed by Christian J. Schrank, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at HHS-OIG, who stated, "Social adult day care and home health services are intended to support seniors, not serve as vehicles for fraud," as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
