Medicaid Kickbacks, Fake Trips—Taxpayers Fleeced

June 19, 2026

Stethoscope pen document about Medicaid eligibility on table

New York officials say four defendants used fake rides, kickbacks, and false claims to drain Medicaid funds.

Quick Take

State officials announced arrests tied to a Medicaid transportation fraud case worth more than $1.6 million.
The complaint centers on fake rides, inflated bills, and kickbacks to patients.
Officials named four defendants and three transportation companies in the alleged scheme.
The public record provided here does not support the $38 million figure tied to this case.

Arrests Tie Medicaid Fraud Claims to Transportation Companies

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and other officials announced the arrests of four defendants in a Medicaid transportation fraud case. The state says the companies used fake claims, inflated charges, and kickbacks to cheat the program out of more than $1.6 million.^[1] That is the official figure in the primary source, even though some social posts and secondary coverage use a much larger number.

The announcement names Jawad Choudhary, Junaid Choudhary, Danya Matthew, and Kenneth Smith. It also identifies A1 Rides Inc., NY Jet Transport Inc., and Ride to Recovery Corp. as the companies tied to the alleged scheme.^[1] Officials said the claims were filed from 2021 through 2025, and the companies allegedly shared patients, drivers, and profits while billing Medicaid for rides that never happened.

What Officials Say Happened

According to the comptroller’s office, a joint investigation and forensic audit found a concerted effort to steal Medicaid funds. The release says the defendants billed for rides that never occurred and paid kickbacks to patients.^[1] Those details matter because they point to a classic fraud pattern: fake trips, padded bills, and money paid to keep beneficiaries tied to the scheme.

The charging stage matters too. The press release says the accusations are not proof of guilt and that the defendants are presumed innocent.^[1] That leaves an important gap for the public. The record provided here does not include the criminal complaint, affidavit, or billing samples that would let readers test the state’s math or see the exact claims behind the loss figure.

Why the Number Question Matters

The biggest problem in the available material is the loss amount. The official New York State Comptroller release says “more than $1.6 million.”^[1] The inherited framing in the user prompt pushes a $38 million claim, but that figure is not supported by the cited primary source for this case. On a story about Medicaid abuse, that difference is not small. It changes the scale of the alleged fraud and the public’s view of the case.

The provided research also does not prove the person arrested had a real tie to Zohran Mamdani. The social posts mention that political angle, but the cited official release does not identify any Mamdani connection.^[1] That matters because partisan labeling can blur the facts. Readers deserve the billing record, the complaint, and the audit, not just a headline built to trigger outrage.

Medicaid Fraud Keeps Showing Up in New York

This case fits a wider pattern in New York’s Medicaid transportation system. State and federal actions in recent years have targeted fake trip billing, inflated mileage, and kickback schemes in similar cases.^[3]^[4]^[16]^[19] That history helps explain why prosecutors move fast when they see ghost rides and false claims. It also explains why taxpayers keep hearing the same ugly story: public money, weak controls, and abuse that hurts the people the program is supposed to help.

🚨🇺🇸 Feds bust $38 million Medicaid scam in Brooklyn, run by prominent Pakistani-American civic leader Pervez Siddiqui and 7 others.

The scheme allegedly used 2 adult day care centers to enroll Medicaid-recipient seniors who never attended; paid recruiters kickbacks for… pic.twitter.com/We2A7BWSof

— NewsForce (@Newsforce) June 18, 2026

For readers frustrated with runaway spending, this is another reminder that fraud in public programs rarely stays isolated. The state says the defendants allegedly used transportation companies as the vehicle for the theft.^[1] If prosecutors prove the case, it will add to a long list of Medicaid scams that bleed taxpayers and reward people who game the system instead of serving patients.