A well-known Pakistani-American community leader has been taken into custody for his involvement in a $38 million fraud related to adult daycare centers. Pervez Siddiqui, a member of a community board in New York City’s Brooklyn Borough, along with seven others, is accused of defrauding the Medicaid program through false billing at two social adult day care centers. The scheme involved billing Medicaid for services that were not provided to recruited individuals.
Siddiqui and his alleged co-conspirators recruited individuals for programs at the adult daycare centers meant for adults with disabilities but submitted bills for services not rendered. These individuals were then given a share of the collected funds and allowed to use their identities to submit fake bills. The group used code words and Pakistan-based billing staff to launder the proceeds through shell companies.
The fraudulent activities took place from 2019 to December of the previous year, with Medicaid being billed for services that were falsely claimed to have been provided at the centers. The investigation revealed that some individuals listed as participants in the programs were located in Pakistan, raising suspicions about the authenticity of the billing. Authorities raided locations associated with the scam in December.
