Brooklyn, NY — A woman from Brooklyn, involved in a vast $68 million Medicaid fraud scheme, has admitted to conspiracy charges, representing a significant turn in one of the largest social adult day care frauds ever discovered in New York.
Zakia Khan, 54, confessed in federal court to masterminding a long-running operation that deceived Medicaid through two adult day care centers she owned in Brooklyn — Happy Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc. and Family Social Adult Day Care Center Inc. Khan also managed several related entities that processed payments and laundered the illicit funds.
Court documents reveal that from 2017 to 2024, Khan and her accomplices lured Medicaid recipients with bribes and kickbacks, subsequently billing Medicaid for services that were either never rendered or were obtained through these illegal incentives. She also compensated marketers to direct recipients to her day care centers and utilized companies like Responsible Care Staffing Inc. and Tanwee Services Inc. to mask the fraud and distribute the illegal gains.
Federal officials state that Khan used the proceeds to enhance her lifestyle, including the purchase of luxury goods and real estate. As part of her guilty plea, she has consented to forfeit $5 million in assets, which includes two properties, cash, and gold jewelry that were confiscated during a raid on her residence.
Khan has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States by engaging in illegal health care kickbacks. She is facing a potential maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on January 28, 2026.
Officials condemned Khan’s actions in strong terms. “The defendant orchestrated a massive scheme to defraud Medicaid, bribing patients to bill a federal health care program for over $68 million,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti. “Americans will not stand for these schemes that target government programs intended to help society’s most vulnerable.”
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York added, “Khan stands convicted of acting as the ringleader of a scheme responsible for stealing millions of dollars dedicated to the government’s health care safety net.”
This case falls under the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which has brought charges against more than 5,800 defendants since 2007 for schemes that have swindled both public and private health insurance programs out of over $30 billion.
