Three Orange County residents have been arrested for allegedly defrauding Medicaid of $2.3 million for fake taxi rides, state Attorney General Letitia James announced on July 3, a week after other Orange residents were accused of stealing $3.8 million in a similar scheme.
In the latest case, Daler Yuldashev and  Damir Yuldashev were arrested on July 2 and accused of grand larceny, health care fraud and filing false documents. The Yuldashevs and their Newburgh taxi company, DYD Universe Inc., and Nigina Iskandarova, were also charged with paying kickbacks.
The Medicaid program provides health care coverage for low income individuals and families, including transportation to and from medical appointments. But from April 2018 to March 2023, according to the indictment handed up in June by an Orange County grand jury, the Yuldashevs billed Medicaid for fake trips and fake tolls.
DYD allegedly added as much as $50 for tolls, for instance, on trips that required no tolls.
The Yuldashevs and Iskandarova also paid kickbacks to Medicaid recipients to recruit passengers for bogus trips, the attorney general claims. Some passengers were paid thousands of dollars to take rides for which DYD allegedly collected tens of thousands of dollars in Medicaid fees.
A similar scheme was used by Orange County residents Muhammad Rizwan Khan, Muhammad Usman Khan and Farhan Khan, according to a grand jury indictment that James announced on June 27.
The indictment also names A1 Class Car Inc., Monroe; Empire Trans NY Inc., Middletown; Meditrans NY Inc., Monroe; and Tristate Express NY Inc., Monroe.
The grand jury also indicted the Khans and their companies on money laundering charges.
The indictments and press releases issued by the attorney general do not connect the two cases or say how the alleged activities were discovered.
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