Two Brooklyn residents have admitted guilt in a scheme that stole an astounding $68 million from the state's disputed Medicaid home care program by dishing out kickbacks for health care services that they did not actually render at three businesses in New York City.
Manal Wasef and Elaine Antao, both aged 46, have pled guilty to their involvement in a healthcare fraud conspiracy, according to the announcement made by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday. They were implicated for steering Medicaid beneficiaries toward two adult social day cares in Brooklyn and a home health care firm in exchange for illicit kickbacks and bribes.
From October 2017 to July 2024, Wasef and Antao served as marketers and recruitment agents for Happy Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc., Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc., and Responsible Care Staffing Inc., a fiscal intermediary in home health care, as outlined in court filings.
According to prosecutors, the duo provided illegal kickbacks and bribes to Medicaid beneficiaries for adult day care and home health care services at these facilities, incorrectly billing Medicaid for services that were never actually delivered.
Furthermore, Wasef and Antao utilized various business entities to launder the proceeds from their fraudulent activities and to create cash for the illicit payments.
In addition to their guilty pleas, they agreed to pay back roughly $1 million, as confirmed by officials.
"The defendants acted as large-scale recruiters who bribed patients with laundered funds while billing Medicaid over $68 million for services that they failed to provide," stated Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division in a public statement.
"Today's guilty pleas illustrate the Department's ongoing commitment to eliminating fraud within government health care programs by rigorously pursuing those who defraud taxpayer-backed initiatives," Duva continued.
Wasef and Antao are among eight individuals initially accused of orchestrating the extensive kickback and bribery operation that defrauded the state program.
Other charged individuals include business owners Zakia Khan and Ahsan Ijaz, alongside Oasmneah Hamdi, Ansir Abassi, and Amran Hashmi. Wasef and Antao are the sixth and seventh individuals to plead guilty in this ongoing case.
Numerous 'middleman' companies operate as payroll intermediaries between caregivers and Medicaid, often with insufficient oversight.
“These individuals prioritized profit over the welfare of people and misappropriated $68 million from welfare resources intended for those most in need,” remarked Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations in New York.
“These guilty pleas affirm that they understood the crimes they were committing, cheating the system and ultimately harming vulnerable Americans,” Patel stated further.
“I applaud HSI New York and our law enforcement partners for their unyielding dedication to dismantling financial fraud schemes that exploit the American populace and inflict harm on our economy.”
Antao is expected to be sentenced on May 20, while Wasef is set for May 27. Faced with potential sentences of up to 10 years in prison, both defendants await their upcoming hearings.
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