OMIG’s Investigative Efforts Help Lead to Arrests, Indictments of Medicaid Transportation Operators for Roles in Medicaid Fraud Schemes
Five Medicaid transportation operators were arrested and indicted following OMIG-assisted investigations for allegedly defrauding the Medicaid program of more than $4.4 million through fictitious billing, kickback schemes and money laundering.
Muhammad Rizwan Khan, Muhammad Usman Khan, and Farhan Kahn of Orange County, along with their related companies, Tristate Express NY, Inc. (Tristate), Meditrans NY, Inc. (Meditrans), Empire Trans NY, Inc. (Empire), and A1 Class Car, Inc. (A1 Class), were charged with Grand Larceny in the First Degree and multiple counts of Healthcare Fraud in the First Degree for allegedly stealing more than $3.8 million from the Medicaid program. They were also charged with counts of Money Laundering in the Second Degree and additional counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing and violation of the Social Services Law.
John Gouzos and Richard Sehl of Rensselaer County, and their related companies Medi Cab Corp. (Medi Cab), Jay Auto Care, Inc. (Jay Auto Care), and Hojo Detail Center, Inc. (Hojo) were charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree for allegedly stealing over $650,000 from the Medicaid program. They were also charged with two counts of Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree and felony counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing and Falsifying Business Records.
As alleged by state prosecutors, the Khans and their companies between September 2019 and October 2023 made illegal weekly kickback payments to Medicaid recipients for using their cabs, submitted Medicaid claims for fictitious trips, and added fake tolls to trips that were far above any real toll that could be incurred in the area, regularly adding costs of up to $50 per trip.
Also alleged by state prosecutors, Guozos and Sehl and their respective companies between December 2021 and March 2023 engaged in fraud, paying numerous Medicaid patients a weekly kickback to request rides from addresses farther away from where they lived and submitting false claims for Medicaid reimbursement.
If convicted of the top count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, Muhammad Rizwan Khan, Muhammad Usman Khan, and Farhan Khan each face up to 25 years in prison. If convicted of the top counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and Health Care Fraud in the Second Degree, Gouzos and Sehl face up to 15 years in prison.
The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.