ALBANY, NEW YORK – Khalid M. Chadder, age 50, of Ticonderoga, New York, pled guilty yesterday to conspiring to defraud Medicaid.

The announcement was made by:

United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith;

New York State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett;

James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and

New York State Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro.

 

Chadder operated Chadder Imports, Inc., d/b/a Adirondack Taxi and Limo, Inc. (“Adirondack Taxi”), a Medicaid-funded transportation company based in Ticonderoga. 

Chadder admitted that from 2015 to 2018, he committed several frauds against Medicaid and the New York State Department of Health, including: billing Medicaid and receiving payment for trips where beneficiaries drove themselves to their own medical appointments, and falsifying the identities of the drivers for those trips; and billing Medicaid and receiving payment for roundtrips to and from medical appointments when the beneficiaries took only one-way trips with Adirondack Taxi.

Chadder faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years, when he is sentenced on June 9, 2020 by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.  Chadder has also agreed to pay $200,000 in restitution.

Chadder is the last of 6 defendants to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with a multi-agency investigation into Medicaid fraud committed by the owners and operators of medical transportation companies based in Essex County.  The following defendants have previously pled guilty:



Name





Residence





Federal charge(s)





Sentence





Arshad Nazir





Ticonderoga





Conspiracy to commit health care fraud; conspiracy to pay bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries





1 year and 1 day in prison, and ordered to pay $450,000 in restitution





Waqas Nauman





Queensbury, New York





Health care fraud





Time served (25 days in jail), and ordered to pay $55,000 in restitution





Khurram Gondal, aka Khurram Choudhary





Ticonderoga





Health care fraud

 





Time served (25 days in jail), and ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution





Qaiser Gondal





Watervliet, New York





Conspiracy to commit health care fraud





Sentencing scheduled for March 11, 2020





Anthony Armstrong





Ticonderoga





Conspiracy to commit health care fraud; conspiracy to pay bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries





Sentencing scheduled for March 11, 2020



These cases were investigated by the FBI, the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit, and the Office of the New York State Inspector General, and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.

Several additional agencies assisted in this investigation, including the Essex County District Attorney’s Office; New York State Police-Troop B; the Office of the New York State Comptroller, Division of Investigations; New York State Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU); Essex County Sheriff’s Office; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG); and the New York State Department of Labor.

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Waqas Nauman, age 37, of Queensbury, New York, pled guilty today to defrauding Medicaid.

The announcement was made by:

United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith;

New York State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett;

James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);

New York State Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro; and

Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly.

 

Today’s plea is the result of a state and federal investigation into Medicaid fraud committed by the owners and operators of medical transportation companies based in Essex County.

Nauman admitted to fraudulent Medicaid billing practices connected to two medical transportation companies he owned, Green Mountain Medical Transportation Inc. and Four Way Taxi, Inc.  The other owner of these companies, Khurram Gondal, age 39, of Ticonderoga, New York, pled guilty to health care fraud on July 9, 2019.  They have each admitted that between 2015 and May 2018, they fraudulently billed Medicaid for medical transportation trips where Medicaid beneficiaries drove themselves to their own medical appointments.

Nauman and Gondal each face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years, when they are sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.  Nauman has agreed to pay $55,000 in restitution, and Gondal has agreed to pay an additional $60,000 in restitution.

The federal charges were investigated by the FBI and the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit in Albany, and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.

Parallel state charges are being investigated by the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit, as well as the Office of the New York State Inspector General, and are being prosecuted by Rensselaer County Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Hauf as Special Prosecutor.

Several additional agencies assisted in this investigation, including the Essex County District Attorney’s Office; New York State Police-Troop B; the Office of the New York State Comptroller, Division of Investigations; New York State Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU); Essex County Sheriff’s Office; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG); and the New York State Department of Labor.

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Qaiser Gondal, age 47, of Watervliet, New York, pled guilty today to conspiring to defraud Medicaid.

The announcement was made by:

United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith;

New York State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett;

James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);

New York State Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro; and

Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly.

 

Today’s plea is the result of a state and federal investigation into Medicaid fraud committed by the owners and operators of medical transportation companies based in Essex County.

Qaiser Gondal operated Ti Taxi Inc. (“Ti Taxi”), a Medicaid-funded transportation company based in Ticonderoga, New York. 

As part of his plea, Qaiser Gondal admitted that he committed a variety of frauds against Medicaid and the New York State Department of Health, including: billing Medicaid and receiving payment for trips where beneficiaries drove themselves to their own medical appointments, and falsifying the identities of the drivers for those trips; billing Medicaid and receiving payment for roundtrips to and from medical appointments when the beneficiaries took only one-way trips with Ti Taxi; and falsifying pick-up and drop-off locations, in order to increase the purported distances traveled and therefore be able to claim and receive higher Medicaid payments.

Qaiser Gondal also admitted that he paid kickbacks and bribes to Medicaid beneficiaries in order to induce those beneficiaries to schedule and keep scheduling medical transportation appointments with Ti Taxi.  Kickbacks included cash, phone cards, cigarettes and tobacco, and free goods at Gondal’s convenience store in Ticonderoga. 

Qaiser Gondal faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years, when he is sentenced on November 14, 2019 by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors. 

Qaiser Gondal has also agreed to pay $325,000 in restitution.

Yesterday, Khurram Gondal, age 38, of Ticonderoga, pled guilty to health care fraud in connection with fraudulent Medicaid billing practices connected to two other medical transportation companies, Green Mountain Medical Transportation Inc. and Four Way Taxi, Inc.  Khurram Gondal, who is Qaiser Gondal’s brother, also faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on November 14, 2019 by Judge McAvoy.  Khurram Gondal has agreed to pay $60,000 in restitution.

Charges remain pending against several other defendants.  Those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The federal charges are being investigated by the FBI and the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit, and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.

Parallel state charges are being investigated by the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit, as well as the Office of the New York State Inspector General, and are being prosecuted by Rensselaer County Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Hauf as Special Prosecutor.

Several additional agencies assisted in this investigation, including the Essex County District Attorney’s Office; New York State Police-Troop B; the Office of the New York State Comptroller, Division of Investigations; New York State Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU); Essex County Sheriff’s Office; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG); and the New York State Department of Labor.

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Thirteen people were arrested this week as part of a federal and state investigation into Medicaid fraud allegedly committed by the owners and operators of medical transportation companies based in Essex County.

The announcement was made by:

United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith;

New York State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II;

Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague;

New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott; and

Janelle M. Miller, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Criminal complaints were filed against the following people:



Name





Age





Residence





Charges





Khalid M. Chadder





48





Ticonderoga,

New York





Federal charges -- Conspiracy to commit health care fraud; offering and conspiring to pay bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries

State charges -- Grand larceny in the third degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree





Qaiser Gondal





46





Ticonderoga,

New York





Federal charges -- Offering and conspiring to pay bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries

State charges – Grand larceny in the second degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; failure to secure compensation





Anthony Armstrong





29





Port Henry,

New York





Federal charges – Offering and conspiring to pay bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries

State charges – Grand larceny in the third degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree





Waqas Nauman





36





Queensbury,

New York





Federal charges -- Conspiracy to commit health care fraud

State charges -- Grand larceny in the second degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; failure to secure compensation





Khurram Gondal, aka Khurram Choudhary





37





Ticonderoga,

New York





Federal charges -- Conspiracy to commit health care fraud

State charges – Grand larceny in the first, second and third degrees; falsifying business records in the first degree; failure to secure compensation





Sana Ulla Chadder





55





Ticonderoga, New York





State charges – Grand larceny in the first degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; failure to secure compensation





Maryam Qaiser





41





Ticonderoga, New York





State charges – Grand larceny in the second degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; failure to secure compensation





Saleem Hayat





34





Port Henry, New York





State charges – Grand larceny in the second degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; failure to secure compensation





Muhammad Jahangir





23





Queensbury, New York





State charges – Grand larceny in the second degree; failure to secure compensation (misdemeanor)





Samone Marshall





27





Ticonderoga, New York





State charges – Grand larceny in the second degree; failure to secure compensation (misdemeanor)





Chaudary Khan





54





Keesville, New York





State charges – Grand larceny in the first degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; failure to secure compensation





Tukk Simpson





48





Crown Point, New York





State charges – grand larceny in the second degree; falsifying business records in the first degree





Arshad Nazir





53





Plattsburgh,

New York





Federal charges – Conspiracy to commit health care fraud; offering and conspiring to pay bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries

State charges – Grand larceny in the first degree; falsifying records in the first degree; failure to secure compensation



The charges in the complaints are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith stated: “These charges allege the theft and waste of taxpayer dollars by the owners and operators of medical transportation companies.  This week’s arrests should put all companies on notice that we will not tolerate the abuse of the public fisc through such schemes as false billing and kickbacks paid to beneficiaries, nor the corruption of medical transportation services on which many people legitimately rely to get to important appointments.”

Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague said: “Corrupt practices within the medical transportation business have been spreading for years like a cancer in our county and throughout the region. The arrests this week should make it crystal clear to any medical transport companies even thinking about breaking the law that my office and my law enforcement partners will be coming after them and will prosecute them to the fullest. These cases are the result of extraordinary teamwork by state and federal law enforcement partners and were made possible through the perseverance of the New York State Police and Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott.”

New York State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II said: “These arrests are the culmination of a two-year long investigation into corruption involving Medicaid transportation providers, who were operating an elaborate scheme to defraud Medicaid and steal taxpayer dollars.   I commend the efforts of State Police members and our federal, state and local partners for their diligence on this case. We simply will not stand for those who defraud taxpayers, and victimize customers and other legitimate providers, for their own personal gain.”

FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Janelle M. Miller stated: “Individuals who defraud health care programs place additional burdens and costs on the health care system, which affects every American citizen.  The FBI will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify any individuals who defraud the system for personal gain.”

New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott stated: “With these medical transport companies it was the New York taxpayers who were taken for a ride. For years, the Northway corridor has been plagued with corruption in the medical transport industry, and this week’s law enforcement actions send a clear message that those who abuse the Medicaid and Workers’ Compensation systems for illicit gains will be relentlessly pursued and prosecuted. I sincerely thank our state and federal law enforcement partners for their extraordinary efforts and cooperation, and particularly District Attorney Sprague for her tremendous dedication and focus on bringing these cases to fruition.”

The Medicaid program is a federal and state health care program that provides health care benefits to individuals and families who meet specified financial and other eligibility requirements, and certain other individuals who lack adequate resources to pay for medical care.  In general, Medicaid can cover the cost of getting to and from a medical appointment when a beneficiary does not have other, suitable transportation.

The federal charges are being investigated by the FBI, and the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit and Troop B, and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.

The state charges are being investigated by the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit and Troop B, as well as the Office of the New York State Inspector General, and are being prosecuted by the Office of Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague.

Several additional agencies are assisting in this investigation, including the Office of the New York State Comptroller, Division of Investigations; New York State Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU); Essex County Sheriff’s Office; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG); and the New York State Department of Labor.