Brooklyn Day Care Owner Pleads Guilty in $65 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme

A 29-year-old Brooklyn man pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a healthcare fraud conspiracy that defrauded New York State Medicaid of approximately $65 million, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Ahsan Ijaz, an owner of Brooklyn-based Happy Family Social Adult Day Care Center, Inc., Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc., and Responsible Care Staffing Inc., admitted to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. According to court documents, over a period of about seven years, Ijaz's businesses paid cash bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid recipients to induce them to enroll. The businesses subsequently billed Medicaid for social adult day care and home health care services that were never provided, including instances where recipients were outside the United States at the time of the purported services.

Ijaz is the tenth defendant to plead guilty in connection with the investigation. The case was investigated jointly by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York, and the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

Ijaz is scheduled for sentencing on March 10, 2027. He faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, with the final sentence to be determined by a federal district court judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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