Brooklyn Business Owner Pleads Guilty in $65 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme

A Brooklyn business owner pleaded guilty Oct. 2 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in a scheme that defrauded New York State Medicaid of approximately $65 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ahsan Ijaz, 29, owned interests in two Brooklyn social adult day care centers, Happy Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc. and Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc., as well as Responsible Care Staffing Inc., a home health care fiscal intermediary.

According to court documents described by the department, Ijaz’s businesses paid cash kickbacks and bribes to Medicaid recipients to encourage them to enroll with the companies. The businesses then billed Medicaid for social adult day care and home health care services that were not provided.

Some claims involved recipients who were outside the United States on the dates the businesses claimed to have delivered services.

The scheme operated for approximately seven years. Ijaz is the 10th defendant to plead guilty in connection with it, the department said.

His sentencing is scheduled for March 10, 2027. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence after considering federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations in New York and the New York City Police Department investigated the case.

Deputy Chief Patrick J. Campbell and Trial Attorney Leonid Sandlar of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire Kedeshian of the Eastern District of New York is assisting with forfeiture matters.

The department announced the guilty plea as part of its broader effort to prosecute fraud involving government benefit programs. DOJ said its Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program has charged more than 6,200 defendants since 2007 who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion. That figure represents amounts billed in the charged cases, rather than a stated total of proven losses.