Brooklyn Daycare Owner Sentenced to 76 Months for $64M Medicaid Fraud
Zakia Khan, 55, received a 76-month federal prison sentence for leading a $64 million Medicaid fraud and kickback scheme across two Brooklyn adult daycares.
Brooklyn daycare owner jailed over $64 million Medicaid fraud and kickback scheme
Zakia Khan, 55, of Brooklyn, was sentenced to 76 months in federal prison on Monday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States, justice.gov reported. United States District Judge Natasha C. Merle imposed the sentence in federal court in Brooklyn, also ordering Khan to pay more than $56 million in restitution and to forfeit $5 million in fraud proceeds — including two properties, cash, and gold jewellery seized from her home.
Khan owned two social adult daycare centres in the Coney Island neighbourhood of Brooklyn: Happy Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc. and Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc. She also controlled a home health care fiscal intermediary, Responsible Care Staffing Inc., and a shell entity, Tanwee Services Inc., used to receive and conceal fraud proceeds.
From approximately October 2017 through July 2024, a network of marketers referred Medicaid recipients to Khan's facilities in exchange for kickbacks and bribes. Khan and the marketers then paid cash kickbacks to those Medicaid recipients to induce them to sign false attendance sheets for services that were never actually delivered. Happy Family and Family Social together fraudulently billed Medicaid approximately $64 million over that period; Medicaid paid out roughly $56 million on the basis of those false claims.
An undercover recording captured Khan paying illegal kickbacks inside her office at Happy Family. Separate footage showed Medicaid recipients receiving cash payments in exchange for signing the fabricated attendance records.
"Khan acted with staggering greed, leading a scheme to defraud Medicaid of millions of dollars intended for people in need," said Pete Gizas, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations New York. "She and her co-conspirators set up social adult daycares but, instead of providing care and services to our most vulnerable neighbours, they enriched themselves with cash, gold, and property."
United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. said the sentencing "sends a strong message of deterrence," adding that his office would "vigorously prosecute corrupt health care owners and operators" in the Eastern District of New York.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch described the conduct as "not only deeply illegal but also immoral," noting that Khan had stolen "$64 million from Medicaid through bribes and kickbacks — money meant to support the most vulnerable."
Miranda L. Bennett, Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, said the sentence made clear "that anyone who illicitly exploits the Medicaid program will be held accountable to the full extent of the law."
The case was investigated by HHS-OIG, HSI New York, and the NYPD. Deputy Chief Patrick J. Campbell and Trial Attorney Leonid Sandlar of the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Health Care Fraud Section are prosecuting the matter, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire Kedeshian, who is handling forfeiture proceedings.
Khan pleaded guilty in August 2025. The Eastern District docket number is 24-CR-409 (NCM).
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)