New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that James Bessell, Sr., owner of Suffolk County transportation company Jim Jim Rentals, Inc., was convicted of defrauding New York’s Medicaid program of more than $1 million. According to a statement from the Attorney General’s office, Bessell submitted false claims, including some for Medicaid recipients who were deceased, incarcerated, or hospitalized. Jim Jim Rentals, Inc. received Medicaid payments to provide transportation for recipients to and from medical appointments, but Bessell filed claims for services that were not actually provided.
From March 2019 through August 2023, James Bessell, Sr., operating Jim Jim Rentals, carried out a scheme involving kickback payments. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) found that he paid Medicaid recipients to skip medical appointments and then submitted claims to Medicaid for trips that did not occur. The scheme defrauded Medicaid of over $1 million, with Bessell providing financial incentives to encourage participation. On September 30, 2025, Bessell and his company pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, and he was sentenced to state prison last Thursday.
Attorney General James said that exploiting the Medicaid program for personal gain endangers the health care of vulnerable New Yorkers and emphasized her office’s efforts to detect and prevent fraud to help maintain access to quality care. Bessell was sentenced to one and a half to four and a half years in prison and ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution to the New York Medicaid program, aiding in the recovery of funds lost through the scheme.
The case against Bessell and Jim Jim Rentals reflects the Attorney General’s ongoing focus on transportation companies defrauding Medicaid, with similar convictions and sentences of taxi and transportation company owners across New York State in recent years. The Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) continues to encourage the public to report suspected Medicaid provider fraud or instances of abuse or neglect of nursing home residents through its hotline or online complaint system, as part of efforts to protect the integrity of services for those in need.
New York’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has total funding of $70,793,651, with 75 percent provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the remaining 25 percent provided by New York State. This funding supports the state’s efforts to detect and prevent Medicaid fraud and ensure that program funds are used for legitimate medical care.
