Posted on: December 06, 2024 02:27 PM

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Attorney General announces convictions and sentences of five taxi company owners for thefts upstate

New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that five individuals and their seven transportation companies have pleaded guilty to stealing more than $4.4 million from New York’s Medicaid program through fake billing and illegal kickbacks, as well as engaging in money laundering and other fraudulent schemes to conceal their crimes. Muhammad Rizwan Khan, 38, Muhammad Usman Khan, 40, and Farhan Khan, 29, all of Orange County, and their related companies pleaded guilty on December 4 in Orange County Court for stealing over $3.8 million from Medicaid. As a result, Muhammad Rizwan Khan and Farhan Khan will be sentenced to two and one-third to seven years and one to three years in state prison, respectively. Muhammad Usman Khan will be sentenced to six months in jail concurrent with five years of probation. The Khans will also pay $2 million to Medicaid in restitution for their crimes.

A key part of both operations were illegal kickback schemes involving Medicaid patients that allowed the companies to recruit patients who they could then use to fraudulently bill more expensive trips to Medicaid. The Khans and their companies made weekly kickback payments to Medicaid recipients, who gave them the identification numbers needed to submit false claims. Gouzos and Sehl similarly paid illegal kickbacks to Medicaid patients to request rides from locations much farther away from where they were actually transported, allowing them to charge more per ride.

From NY AG