New York Attorney General Letitia James has indicted three men from Orange County and four companies with which they’re associated for allegedly stealing from the state’s Medicaid program through fictitious billing, kickbacks, fraud and money laundering. At the same time, James indicted two individuals from Rensselaer County and their three companies on similar charges.
The Rensselaer County people and companies are John Gouzos and Richard Sehl and Medi Cab Corp., Jay Auto Care, Inc., Hojo Detail Center, Inc. Their alleged crimes involved $650,000.
The indictment of people and companies from Orange County involved $3.8 million and named Muhammad Rizwan Khan, Muhammad Usman Khan, and Farhan Khan of Orange County and their related companies Tristate Express NY, Inc., Meditrans NY, Inc., Empire Trans NY, Inc., and A1 Class Car, Inc.
Medicaid reimburses approved transportation providers for transporting Medicaid patients to and from covered medical services, according to James. Both sets of defendants allegedly operated schemes in which they illegally overcharged Medicaid for their transportation services.
James alleges that between Sept. 2019 and Oct. 2023, the Khans and their companies paid Medicaid recipients to use their cabs, submitted claims for fictitious trips, and added fake tolls to trips that were far above any real toll that could be incurred in the area, regularly adding costs of up to $50 per trip. Over time, the overcharges allegedly added up to more than $3.8 million.
James also alleges that a key part of the alleged schemes involved the defendants and their companies illegally recruiting customers who they could then use to fraudulently bill more rides to Medicaid. The Khans and their companies made weekly kickback payments to Medicaid recipients for signing up with their companies, which gave them the identification numbers needed to submit false claims, according to the charges filed by James.
“Using vulnerable patients to personally profit at the expense of New York taxpayers is reprehensible,” James said. “The illegal schemes these defendants engaged in not only exploited New Yorkers seeking care, but also undermined honest health care providers. My office will continue to root out fraud and abuse in our health care system to protect New Yorkers.”
James’ office worked with the FBI, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police and other state agencies to develop the case.
Among the charges against the Khans and their companies are grand larceny in the first degree and multiple counts of health care fraud in the first degree. If convicted of the top count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, Muhammad Rizwan Khan, Muhammad Usman Khan, and Farhan Khan each face up to 25 years in prison.
