NEW YORK, NY — Joseph Hernandez, Republican candidate for New York State Comptroller, commented on the federal indictment of eight people accused of stealing $38 million from New York’s Medicaid program through two Brooklyn adult day care centers. He pledged to build a dedicated Fraud Strike Task Force inside the Comptroller’s office and demanded to know how a scheme that ran for six years slipped past the auditors of 19-year incumbent Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
Federal prosecutors charge that the operators of APNA Adult Daycare and Ashiana Social Adult Daycare billed $38 million through Medicaid for services that were never provided, paying people to hand over their Medicaid cards while many never set foot in either center. According to the indictment, some enrollees had already left the country, the billing was handled by staff overseas, and the scheme ran for roughly six years.
Hernandez faulted current Comptroller DiNapoli, whose office is responsible for auditing the state’s Medicaid spending, for failing to catch it.
“This is theft, plain and simple. For six years, New York paid for patients who were never there, some of them on another continent, and nobody in Albany noticed,” said Hernandez. “Once again, it took the federal government to catch what DiNapoli should have caught years ago and what he’s elected to do.”
Hernandez noted the case is not an isolated one. A separate Brooklyn day care operation was charged last year in an alleged $68 million scheme, and a Queens case this year approached $120 million. Together, these three instances account for more than $226 million in alleged Medicaid fraud.
Hernandez also pointed to the operation’s ties to Democrat campaigns. While the alleged fraud was underway, Pervez Siddiqui, one of those indicted, hosted a 2022 fundraiser for Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is responsible for prosecuting Medicaid fraud, as well as donated regularly to Democratic campaigns.
“They were hosting fundraisers for the attorney general and helping keep those who kept quiet in office,” Hernandez said. “That is exactly what happens when no one is watching and DiNapoli has clearly failed his job.”
Hernandez pledged that as Comptroller he will implement a dedicated Medicaid Fraud Strike Task Force inside the office, and an audit and data team aimed at the highest-risk programs, including adult day care, home care, and long-term care. The unit would use real-time data to flag fake billing, cross-check claims against attendance and residency records, coordinate closely with law enforcement, and restore the Comptroller’s pre-audit power to stop bad payments before they ever go out.
“Our Medicaid program is one of the most expensive in the country, we must have accountability,” Hernandez said. “I spent my career in the private sector chasing down numbers that didn’t add up, and that is exactly what this office demands. As Comptroller, I will follow the money, build a team that actually hunts for fraud, and shut it down. When I’m elected, that silence ends day one, and New Yorkers will finally have a real watchdog in Albany.”