APNA Adult Day Care in Coney Island
A prominent Pakistani-American businessman and several of his associates have been accused of running a massive $38 million Medicaid fraud scheme through two adult day care centers in Brooklyn, the New York Post reports.78-year-old Parvez Siddiqui is a well-known community leader. He is a pharmacy owner and a member of Brooklyn Community Board 13. He was arrested Monday along with seven alleged co-conspirators. The group used two community adult day care centers, APNA Adult Daycare and Ashiana Social Adult Daycare, to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicaid claims between 2019 and December 2025.The operation enrolled elderly Medicaid beneficiaries who rarely attended the facilities.
In exchange for enrollment, many participants received cash payments funded through fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements.Also named in the indictment are Shazia Bibi, also known as Shazia Watto, Abdul Aziz, Shayir Ali, and recruits Zebun Ahmed, Gosna Begum, Syra Khatun and Atiya Shahnaz.Recruiters were paid kickbacks to bring Medicaid beneficiaries into the program. The defendants then billed New York’s Medicaid system for services that were never provided, generating approximately $38 million in false claims.
To hide the scheme, the group created fake attendance records and sign-in sheets that sometimes exceeded the facilities’ legal occupancy limits. They used billing staff in Pakistan and moved the money through shell companies using payments labeled “gifts,” “dividends,” “medicines,” and even “ladoos,” a South Asian dessert.After federal agents executed search warrants in December 2025, some of the defendants attempted to obstruct the investigation by demanding that employees replace cell phones and delete data.A source familiar with the investigation told the New York Post that recruiters looked for Medicaid beneficiaries in low-income neighborhoods, bus stops, doctors’ offices and public housing projects.“Marketers go around looking for a Medicaid card. They stop people on the streets and at bus stops. They go to doctors’ offices. They go to NYCHA [government housing] Where they know that people are low-income.
They ask: ‘Do you have a Medicaid card?’” the source told NYP.The source claimed that seniors or their relatives receive about $500 a month simply for allowing their Medicaid information to be used.Even more surprising, plaintiffs said some beneficiaries continued to file claims while living abroad.The source claimed, “The patient is in Pakistan, and they are in Morocco. They are not even in this country.”The case also attracted attention because of Siddiqui’s political connections.
The businessman owns about 15 pharmacies in New Jersey, and has donated thousands of dollars to Democratic political campaigns over the years. Through his involvement with the US-Pakistan Public Affairs Committee, he has attended meetings and events with Democratic figures, including New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani, Attorney General Letitia James, and former Mayor Eric Adams.No elected officials have been accused of wrongdoing, and none are named in the indictment.The indictment also does not accuse Siddiqi Pharmacies or its other affiliates of involvement in the fraud.The allegations emerge amid growing scrutiny of New York’s adult day care industry. Last year, federal prosecutors accused the operators of another Brooklyn-based scheme of stealing $68 million from Medicaid through similar tactics. Earlier this year, two Queens men were charged in a separate case involving an alleged $120 million fraud linked to adult day care centers.New York spends more Medicaid money per patient than any other state, making the program a frequent target of large-scale fraud investigations.
