Two people charged in alleged multi-million dollar Medicaid fraud scheme

Two defendants have been charged for their involvement in an alleged multi-million dollar medical care fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced Thursday.

Saad Aziz and Zabed Chowdhury, also known as “Jared,” were charged in a federal court in Central Islip on Wednesday with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and pay healthcare kickbacks, paying healthcare kickbacks and money laundering conspiracy. The two defendants face allegations of offering and paying healthcare kickbacks and also sending in fraudulent claims to Medicaid for ambulette services to medical appointments that were never actually conducted, or for which the costs were artificially exaggerated.

An ambulette refers to a non-emergency medical transport vehicle specifically created for people who may need help getting to a healthcare facility but do not need urgent medical care, according to Dream Care Rides.

“As alleged, the defendants turned a transportation program intended to provide vulnerable Medicaid beneficiaries with access to critical medical care into a vehicle for personal enrichment,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement. “By paying illegal kickbacks, billing for rides that were never provided, and inflating reimbursement claims through false information, they allegedly stole tens of millions of taxpayer dollars.”

“It is a priority of the Office and the Administration to protect the integrity of federally funded healthcare programs and to hold accountable those who seek to profit through fraud,” Nocella added.