Defendants allegedly billed Medicaid for ambulette services to medical appointments that were not performed, including claims for individuals who were deceased Date: June 11, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, an indictment was unsealed charging Noman Ahmed, Adnan Arshad, Rehman Diwan, Jessica Hendrickson, Jose Marte, Mohammed Saleem, Faisal Shamsi and Waqas Shamsi with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks, paying health care kickbacks, and money laundering. The defendants allegedly offered and paid health care kickbacks and submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid for ambulette services to medical appointments that were not performed, or the costs were artificially inflated. The defendants were arrested today and all but Marte will be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay. Marte will be arraigned tomorrow. Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Thomas M. Fattorusso, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York, (IRS-CI), Naomi Gruchacz, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and Raymond A. Tierney, Suffolk County District Attorney, announced the arrests and charges. “As alleged, the defendants abused the trust placed in them by Medicaid by falsely and brazenly treating this essential program like a piggy bank for their own enrichment,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Their transportation scam ended today with law enforcement providing the defendants a free ride to the courthouse to face serious criminal charges. My Office will prosecute health care providers who steal from taxpayer-funded programs intended to help those in need.” Mr. Peace also thanked the Office of the New York State Comptroller and the New York Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their assistance in the case. “Healthcare fraud is not a victimless crime. The loss created by criminals bilking the system generates a gap in funding that gets filled by law-abiding citizens paying more than their fair share. This team of alleged criminals are charged with a multimillion-dollar fraud involving health care kickbacks and false claims. While legitimate claimants continue to work through the Medicaid system, some of the alleged fraudsters purchased luxury vehicles and million-dollar homes. This is unacceptable, and each offender will now face justice for their actions,” stated IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge Fattorusso. “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that individuals are held accountable if they attempt to exploit federal health care programs for their own greed,” stated HHS-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Gruchacz. “It is alleged in this case that the defendants offered illegal kickbacks and billed Medicaid improperly for millions of dollars, which can affect the availability of funds and services for others and drive up the cost of taxpayer-funded health care.” “My Office remains committed to stand and work with our federal partners in combatting crime and keeping our citizens safe," stated Suffolk County District Attorney Tierney. “Those who seek to illegally profit off the backs of hardworking U.S. taxpayers will be found out and brought to justice. The defrauding of our citizens will not be tolerated.” As set forth in court filings, the defendants owned, operated and were employees of several transportation companies. From approximately December 2020 to the present, the defendants paid illegal health care kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries so that those beneficiaries would order medical transportation services specifically from the defendants, which generally included transportation to addiction treatment centers for the beneficiaries’ purportedly necessary methadone treatment. The defendants generally did not provide the medical transportation services ordered by the Medicaid beneficiaries. Yet in total, the defendants and their transportation companies – 668 MTK Taxi LLC, All-Star Taxi LLC, Apollo Transportation, Sunrise Taxi LLC, and Transportation Solution NY Corp. d/b/a A1 Transport – fraudulently billed Medicaid millions of dollars for these services throughout the course of the scheme. At least two claims were submitted to Medicaid for individuals who were deceased, and some claims were submitted for individuals who were hospitalized or incarcerated. The defendants also submitted artificially inflated claims to Medicaid. Although there were numerous addiction treatment centers on Long Island the beneficiaries could have utilized, the defendants instructed them to order rides to addiction treatment centers in New York City and to list false addresses so they could obtain higher reimbursement rates from Medicaid for longer rides. The transportation companies owned or operated by the defendants billed Medicaid over $16 million for trips to just three addiction treatment centers in New York City. The defendants Adnan Arshad and Mohammed Saleem used the illicit proceeds of the schemes to purchase approximately 15 additional transport vehicles for use in the scheme and to purchase multimillion-dollar homes and luxury vehicles. The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorney Adam Toporovsky and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Milito, of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Adam Bernard. Assistant United States Attorney Tanisha Payne of the Office’s Asset Recovery Section is handling forfeiture matters. The defendants: Noman Ahmed — Port Jefferson Station, New York Adnan Arshad (also known as “Eddie”) — Mount Sinai, New York Rehman Diwan — Hicksville, New York Jessica Hendrickson — Patchogue, New York Jose Marte — Bronx, New York Mohammed Saleem — Dix Hills, New York Faisal Shamsi (also known as “Jimmy”) — Massapequa, New York Waqas Shamsi (also known as “Ricky”) — Massapequa, New York
