MAKLIMO LLC Owner Sentenced Up to 9 Years for $1.1M Medicaid Fraud in Ulster County

Muhammad W. Khan, 30, owner of a Medicaid taxi service in Ulster County, NY, was sentenced to three-to-nine years in prison for stealing over $1.1 million through fraudulent billing.

Ulster County taxi service owner jailed for systematic Medicaid billing fraud

Muhammad W. Khan, 30, the owner of MAKLIMO LLC — a taxi service catering to Medicaid recipients in Ulster County, New York — has been sentenced to three-to-nine years in state prison after pleading guilty to grand larceny, dailyfreeman.com reported Friday.

Between November 2020 and August 2024, Khan billed the Medicaid programme for over $1.1 million through a combination of inflated charges, double-billing, and kickbacks paid to patients seeking addiction treatment and transportation to health facilities. Investigators determined the total amount stolen reached $1.3 million.

Khan pleaded guilty in March to one count of grand larceny before Ulster County Judge Bryan Rounds. The plea agreement set a minimum sentence of two to six years and a maximum of five to 15 years in state prison. Judge Rounds sentenced him this week within that range.

Father and brother also charged

Khan and his father, Mohammad A. Khan, 69 — owner of Atlas Limo — were originally charged together in June 2025. The elder Khan is accused of stealing $111,548 and faces a grand larceny felony charge. A second brother is allegedly the subject of a separate case being prosecuted by the state Office of the Attorney General in Orange County, according to a spokesperson for the Ulster County District Attorney's office.

Muhammad Khan had originally faced 23 counts, including 12 counts of grand larceny, four counts of health care fraud, four counts of falsification of business records, offering a false instrument for filing, and two counts of social services prohibited practices.

Fake rides and paid patients

Under the Medicaid programme, patients may use approved transportation services to reach medical appointments, with costs billed to Medicaid. Group rides require prior authorisation, and providers may only bill mileage once per group.

A joint investigation by county and state officials found that Khan systematically billed Medicaid individually for each passenger on shared rides, and also submitted claims for trips that never took place. Investigators further uncovered a kickback scheme in which patients — some of them drug addicts — were paid to use MAK Limo's service, allowing Khan to generate fraudulent billing entries.

Khan was ordered to pay full restitution for his crimes.

Officials respond

"Muhammad Khan falsified bills and bribed patients to deprive the Medicaid program of over a million dollars, taking money that should have rightly been spent on healthcare for New Yorkers," State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement. DiNapoli credited Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji for his partnership on the case.

Nneji echoed the sentiment: "This huge theft scheme was uncovered, and the perpetrators brought to justice, by the tenacious and collaborative efforts of the investigators and lawyers dedicated to the case. I am grateful to Comptroller DiNapoli for his commitment to holding these operations accountable and recovering public funds stolen by the defendant."

Source: Google News JM — Kingston