Medicaid Scam Unravels- New Arrests

Doctor examining patient with stethoscope in hospital

A new Medicaid fraud arrest in New York is fueling anger over taxpayer waste and weak oversight.

Quick Take

New York officials announced arrests tied to alleged fake transportation billing, kickbacks, and rides that never happened.
The official state announcement says the alleged loss was more than $1.6 million, not $38 million.
The cited record does not prove any link between the arrested people and Zohran Mamdani.
The case is still at the accusation stage, so the defendants are presumed innocent.

State Officials Say Transportation Companies Ran a Fraud Ring

New York officials say four people were arrested after a joint investigation into Medicaid transportation billing abuse. The Office of the State Comptroller said the case involved three transportation companies that allegedly shared patients, drivers, and profits while submitting false claims between 2021 and 2025. Officials said the scheme included rides that never occurred, inflated charges, and kickbacks paid to patients.^[1]

According to the state release, the named defendants are Jawad Choudhary, Junaid Choudhary, Danya Matthew, and Kenneth Smith. The companies named in the case are A1 Rides Inc., NY Jet Transport Inc., and Ride to Recovery Corp. The same release says the defendants were charged with grand larceny and that the charges are accusations, not proof of guilt.^[1]

Why the Dollar Figure Matters

The biggest problem with the headline claim is the dollar amount. The official New York State Comptroller release says the alleged loss was more than $1.6 million, while the $38 million figure comes from separate coverage not matched by the state source provided here.^[1]^[8] That gap matters because readers deserve the real number, not a louder one.

For conservatives, this is the kind of Medicaid abuse that should draw hard scrutiny. Taxpayer-funded programs only work when the money reaches real patients and real services. When providers bill for ghost rides, padded mileage, or kickbacks, the public pays twice: first through theft, then through higher costs and more distrust in the system.^[1]^[16]

No Verified Link to Mamdani Appears in the Record

The research package does not show that the arrested person had a proven relationship to Zohran Mamdani. The “affiliate” framing appears in the social posts and in a secondary headline, but no cited public document here explains that connection or supports it with records. On the evidence provided, that claim remains unproven and should be treated cautiously.^[2]^[13]

🚨🇺🇸 Feds bust $38 million Medicaid scam in Brooklyn, run by prominent Pakistani-American civic leader Pervez Siddiqui and 7 others.

The scheme allegedly used 2 adult day care centers to enroll Medicaid-recipient seniors who never attended; paid recruiters kickbacks for… pic.twitter.com/We2A7BWSof

— NewsForce (@Newsforce) June 18, 2026

The same caution applies to the broader political spin around the arrest. The official record supports an allegation of Medicaid transportation fraud, not a settled finding against a political network. New York has seen repeated transportation fraud cases, including claims for trips that never happened and payments tied to kickbacks, so this arrest fits a wider enforcement pattern.^[1]^[16]^[17]

What the Case Shows About Medicaid Oversight

The complaint style described in the state release matches a familiar fraud pattern seen across New York and other states. Officials have repeatedly said some providers submit false trip claims, inflate mileage, or use kickbacks to keep patients on the books. Those are not victimless tricks. They drain funds meant for the elderly, the disabled, and working families who depend on honest care.^[1]^[3]^[4]

At the same time, the public still lacks the full charging packet, audit workpapers, and underlying claim data. That means the stronger version of the story cannot go beyond the official allegation. For now, the facts support a serious fraud arrest, a disputed loss figure, and no verified proof for the political affiliation claim that drove the viral framing.^[1]^[2]^[8]